I'm Yours To Keep
by Tigrera5793
Summary: Meg and Jim learn the hard way that even the strongest of relationships can crumble from misplaced trust and hidden secrets. How much stress can theirs take before it falls apart? Various Disney and Dreamworks characters included.
1. Chapter 1: You're Impossible To Find

**A/n: I apologize in advance for this chapter. It is jam-packed with information and goes very quickly. This was written before I had Kayli editing for me and before I actually had an idea of how to write. I also really suck at starting stories. So, if this story does sound interesting to you, at least give the 2****nd**** and 3****rd**** chapters a chance before passing it off as a teenager who has no idea how to write (I swear I've improved a lot since beginning this story). Thank you.**

Prologue:

It was all her fault. He was gone, and it was all because of her. If she never went for that walk, if she never found that stupid thing, if she never gave it to him, if they had never gotten into that fight, he would still be with her. Instead of being alone in a forest in the middle of nowhere, she would be with him at the Benbow Inn, talking and playing with Morph.

Meg tried helping out at the inn when she visited, but Jim would always take on her work as well as his, never finishing either, so eventually when she went over, she would just keep Morph busy or help Sarah with small chores while waiting for Jim to get off of work. Soon, even that wasn't enough to keep Jim focused on his own work and, since once she arrived he would be useless anyway, Sarah would just send her, Jim and Morph on some random errand so at least something useful would get done.

The 'errand' usually just turned into them either going to her house and talking or walking to the park and sitting by the fountain, watching other couples walk by. Eventually Morph would get bored and start mimicking the couples that went by, at least until she got annoyed and scolded at him. Jim would laugh and said she acted like such a mother, and she would get embarrassed.

Really, they were like parents to Morph. On one of their earlier dates, while she was still unsure as to why the trouble-making teen would want to go out with a stubborn female like herself, they found the poor pink blob shivering and cowering in a cardboard box, afraid of everything that went by. Jim, being as curious and rash boy he was, bent down to the creature and poked it with his finger as he would a mysterious substance. Although she would never admit it, she was inquisitive about the unfamiliar creature too, but was content enough in watching Jim try to interact with it.

The blob looked at Jim's prodding digit questioningly, and bit it, retreating to the far corner of his box and trying to blend in.

"Augh! That thing has teeth! Where did those come from?"

Meg couldn't help laughing at him, receiving an aggravated glare in return. "It's not my fault you expected it to be friendly. You just scared it."

She noticed the little blob had cowered even further into the box and looked even more afraid than before. She put a hand on her hip, studying the creature, before bending down and looking straight at the thing's eyes.

"Alright, come out of there. Stop acting so cowardly."

Jim looked at her, still massaging his sore finger. "That's a little blunt, isn't it?"

To his surprise, the blob slightly came out of the box, transforming into Jim and mimicking his outburst after being bitten. Meg, although surprised at the thing's transformation, not to mention its understanding of what she said, chuckled at its actions.

Looking up and smirking at Jim, she said, "Well, what do you know, he understands us. You did just scare it." After a disgruntled grunt from Jim, she addressed the creature. "He didn't mean to scare you, now come on out if you want a new home."

Startled, Jim proclaimed, "Wait, what? You want to take the thing home?"

She picked the creature up, holding it close to her body to warm it. "His name's Morph, and I'm not taking it home, you are." She put Morph in his pocket, smiling as it seemed to curl up and fall asleep.

"Now wait, why do I have to take care of it?" Jim looked at her as she crossed her arms and leaned on one hip.

"Because you know I can't, my landlord would never allow it. And besides," she walked closer to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and smiling seductively, "if you take care of him, I'll have just another excuse to visit more."

He grinned back at her, leaning in for a quick kiss. "You're lucky I love assertive women."

"I know." She said, leaning forward, but pulling away in the last second and hitting his face with her curly chestnut hair as she quickly turned away and walked back to his house, Jim in tow.

She smiled at the memory, leaning back on her hands and crossing her legs in front of her. He noticed the change, his expression changing to his signature mischievous grin.

"What are you thinking about?"

She turned her attention to him, noticing his taunting smirk and deciding to tease him right back. "Oh, I just thought the guy that passed was really cute. I think I'll go talk to him."

Jim frowned. "What? Am I not good enough for you?"

She pretended to think about it. "I don't know, maybe he'll be more interesting and spend more time with me instead of working." Taking it a step further, she slowly got up and began to walk away. She didn't take more than two footsteps before Jim grabbed her hand and pulled her back down next to him.

"I don't work that much." He took the little curl of hair by her cheek and began twirling it around his finger. "Besides, just a little longer, and we'll have enough to get our own place and you can stop living alone in that apartment."

She smiled at him; he was always worried about her well-being. She took his hand out of her hair and placed it in both of hers.

"I'll be fine; I can take care of myself. Your mom still needs your help, at least while Doppler's busy taking care of his wife. I can wait that long to live with you." She gave him a quick kiss and smirked when she pulled away. "But you really need to get back to the inn with that juice; else Sarah won't let me visit for a while."

He sighed, knowing she was right. "Alright. You coming with me?"

She shook her head. "I think I'll stay here a little while longer." At his concerned look, she continued, smiling at him reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'll be back at the inn before dark and I'll let you walk me home if it worries you that much."

He hesitated. He hated leaving her alone anywhere; especially considering that it was a party weekend and she'd have to go through downtown to get back to the inn. But he saw that determined look in her violet eyes, and if he didn't leave soon, he would get a scolding from his mom for taking so long (well, longer than she knew the distracted teens would take).

He sighed, admitting defeat. "Ok. But just to be safe, I'm leaving Morph with you, he's got enough teeth to do some damage." He cringed in remembrance, as Morph rubbed his cheek affectionately before floating to Meg and hiding in her hair.

Meg and Jim smiled at their little creature, giving each other a quick farewell kiss before Jim ran off to the store, leaving Meg to meander into the forest part of the park.

After a few minutes of walking, and Morph restlessly circling about her, looking all over as if monitoring for nonexistent danger, Meg became slightly annoyed and sighed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Alright Morph, new job." He looked at her, recognizing her irritated tone of voice and stance, knowing that when she did that, someone (usually Jim) got yelled at. She gave him a quick, reassuring smile to abate his fear of punishment before continuing. "Go find something interesting to take back to Jim," she paused, remembering the last time she told him that, "and make sure it doesn't belong to someone else like the last time."

Morph gave her his best imitation of a salute before zooming off into the forest on his next treasure hunt. She watched him leave before letting out a breath of relief and leaning against a tree.

Jim was so protective of her; she knew he didn't like her being out alone, and she didn't blame him, especially considering how they became a couple in the first place. She leaned back against the tree, remembering the day they met.

It was a little over a year ago. She was walking through downtown alone, returning from another unsuccessful job interview fuming. She couldn't seem to find a job anywhere, not without the managers always asking for something extra before hiring her. It got old. Just because she was beautiful didn't mean she was willing to use her body to get what she wanted. Unlike their expectations, she wasn't like those other girls. Of course, nowadays it seemed that everyone expected her to be.

No one in her life had yet to prove her wrong. Her ex-boyfriend, her friends, everyone she knew was only around because of her looks, not for her friendship. She didn't see or understand that truth, not until she found her boyfriend making out with a gorgeous blond girl with curves larger than hers, breaking up with her the day after. Once they broke up, all her friends stopped talking to her; she was no longer the center of attention, so they wanted nothing to do with her anymore, and there was no way she was going to demean herself and become just another petty and dishonest follower with them.

She didn't need anyone anyway, she could survive on her own, and she'd been doing fine the last few years. Besides, how could she hope anyone wanted to be with her if even her parents left her on her own once she turned 16 and went to another country? She figured it was better to be alone, that way no one would be able to hurt her again.

She was so caught up in her inner ranting and musing that she didn't consider the shady part of town she was walking through to get home, instead focusing on it being a shortcut to her apartment where she could shut out the rest of the world. Her apartment. She wondered if she would ever get out of it.

About a block away from her home, three guys interrupted her thoughts, blockading the path. She walked up to them, trying to pass. After they just continued to move in her way, she grumbled and crossed her arms.

"Excuse me. You're in my way."

One of the guys chuckled as his two buddies surrounded her. "Someone's a little feisty tonight. Why don't you come with us, get a drink, and relax?"

She could smell the alcohol on his breath, and tried to retrace her steps, to find the other two blocking any way she tried to turn. Her heart began beating faster, but she knew if she showed these drunks any signs of fear, she would never escape unscathed. She hoped her mouth and attitude could get her out of trouble like it usually did. She put on her most convincing aggravated face before mustering up the courage to address them. "Sorry, not interested."

One of the men looked offended. "Well why not sweetheart? We're not bad looking and we ain't going to hurt you and we ain't going to do anything you didn't ask for. And with a body like yours, you're just begging for everything we've got planned. Be happy it was gentlemen like us who found you."

His two friends behind her started chuckling and moving in on her. She studied the size of the three and determined that, even if she was able to immobilize one, she could never handle the other two and that would probably result her in being hurt worse. So fighting back was out of the question. She cursed her parents for giving her these curves and no muscle to protect herself with. She stood as still and fearlessly as she could, although every nerve in her body was screaming for her to just run.

She watched them approach until she felt a hand on her arm, pulling her out of the circle of men. She quietly gasped in surprise as the arms steadied her before one protectively went around her waist. She assumed it was one of the men, until she saw all three looking at whoever was holding her in surprise.

She looked up at her 'rescuer' (she wasn't really sure if he was, or just another guy trying to get her in bed with him). He picked up his solar surfer with his free arm (she could only recognize it because her ex used to ride one, she never went anywhere near it), causing her attention to change to his brown jacket and dark t-shirt underneath. She eventually looked at his face, seeing him smiling at her with his blue-gray eyes showing concern. She blushed slightly and looked down, embarrassed that he caught her studying him.

She knew she recognized him; maybe it was from school or somewhere. What was his name? Hawkins? Josh? James? Jim? Jim Hawkins, that was it. But what was he doing here of all places?

The three men, aggravated at being interrupted, roughly addressed the boy, snapping Meg out of her contemplation. "Hey, kid, who the hell do you think you are? We were just having a pleasant conversation, that's all."

Jim smirked. "Really? Didn't look that way to me."

The man grew more impatient. "Yeah, and what would you care kid? You her boyfriend or something?"

Before Jim could falter over the answer, she quickly put one arm around his waist and the other lightly on his jacket; she felt him flinch at her unexpected action. "Now that you mention it, he is. We were meeting at home for dinner before you rudely blocked my way. Now, if you don't mind, we'd like to get back to our business." Sometimes it scared her how good she was at lying.

She pulled on his jacket a little to guide him in the direction of her apartment, but the drunks refused to give up.

"Who cares if she's got a boyfriend? Let's get rid of the boy, take her and change her mind."

_Crap._ The one time she really needed her mouth to get away it didn't work. It probably didn't help that the men were intoxicated and thus lost all sense of right and wrong. She shifted to try and run, but Jim didn't move. Instead he grabbed her tighter and threw his board on the ground, pulling her up onto it and kick-starting the motor. It blazed to life and they shot into the air before she could protest.

It took her a moment to realize they were going higher and higher off the ground, before she cinched her eyes shut and grabbed on to him tighter. She desperately hoped he wouldn't let her go and fall; she'd prefer those ruffians over being this high in the air, at least with them she had a higher chance of survival.

Eventually, she felt the board thump on the ground and him pull her off of it. She slowly opened her eyes to see his looking into them. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and lighten the overwhelming dizziness that threatened her balance.

"You okay?"

She took another breath before sighing and looking at him. "I will be, but I think I'll keep my feet on the ground from now on."

She realized she was still holding onto him and pulled away. He chuckled at her. "Sorry for not warning you, but those guys didn't give me much of a choice. What were you doing with those, those-"

"Intoxicated idiots?" She finished for him. "I was walking home. I was almost there before those jerks stopped me." She paused, noticing the sun setting."Anyway, thanks for helping me. I best be getting myself home now."

She turned away from him and began walking back toward the city. He grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Hold on, you live in that area? You can't go back home now; who knows what kinds of freaks are waiting there."

She stared at him for a moment. Was he actually worried about a stranger like her? "So what do you suggest? It's either go back through downtown or sleep on the streets, and honestly the latter doesn't sound very appealing." She crossed her arms and watched him as he thought.

"Listen, my mom owns an inn nearby; you can stay there for the night and go home in the morning." He pointed to the house behind him. She could tell Jim was trying to convince her to not go home; he was sincerely concerned. That was new in a guy.

"One problem, hero, I don't have any money on me."

He smiled at her. "I'll cover it for you, just means a few extra chores for the week is all."

She considered his offer. She really didn't want to go back through town right now and chance meeting more drunks. And there was no way she was going to suggest him flying her back home. She sighed and accepted his offer.

"I feel bad not paying, especially after you saved me. If there's any way I can return the favor-" she feigned forgetting his name, not wanting to make it seem like he saved a creeper or anything.

"Jim, it's Jim. And I guess if you really want to repay me, you could go on a date with me-?"

She giggled. "How forward, asking me on a date before you even know my name." She laughed more as he turned red. "Megara, call me Meg. And I think I can spare a date with you. Thank you." She gave him an appreciative kiss on the cheek and walked toward the inn slowly, waiting for him to catch up and lead her inside.

After that night and their first date, they had been practically inseparable. He helped her find a part-time job to keep her busy while he was working. She daily went over to the inn after work to see him and he would walk her home afterwards. They talked and teased one another about everything, from getting a house together to her fear of heights to his inability to stay out of trouble.

She felt something nudging her leg, breaking her reverie and forcing her to return to the real world. She looked down to see Morph with a large sphere in his mouth, prodding her with it so she would take it from him.

"What did you find this time?" Meg put her hand out for Morph to drop his prize into it. It was surprisingly light for looking so dense and appeared to be covered with copper or something similar. She played with it a little bit, before it beeped at her. She smiled. "Looks like a puzzle of some sort." She looked at the little blob suspiciously. "And no one was around it or looking for it?" Morph shook his head, floating happily around as she sighed thoughtfully and shifted off the tree, walking toward the inn. "I think Jim will like what you found; let's go show him."


	2. Chapter 2: Breathe Me In

**Disclaimer: **__**I do not own any Disney characters; Disney does, although owning them would be awesome. **

**Double Disclaimer: This was based on a video my sister and I made on YouTube of the same title. Which also means I might write stories for the other couples involved in it too. And which means that I never really thought about the beginning, and am totally making it up as I go along (I only planned the middle and part of the end for the video and am expanding it as I go).**

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this for me and making it awesome. **

**Anyway, please read and review; it makes me feel loved. **

Chapter 2: Breathe Me In

Meg walked into the inn, looking about the crowded place for any sign of Jim. There were many faces, but none of them were his. Sarah was busy working, picking up a large stack of dishes from a nearby table. Even so, she noticed the girl meander in, and a smile formed on her face.

Sarah called Meg's name. The brunette took no notice, and she tried again even louder. "Megara!" At this, Meg jumped in surprise. She turned to see who might call her in such a way, to call them out on being so rude, but she quickly dismissed that thought. She grinned embarrassedly when she saw it was only Jim's mother calling to her.

"Sorry Mrs. Hawkins. I didn't hear you." Upon noticing Sarah's large pile of tableware, she walked over. She offered to take some of the load to the kitchen. When Sarah assented, Meg gave the 'treasure' back to Morph so she'd have use of both of her hands. She removed some of Sarah's mound. As she waited for Sarah to finish collecting dishes, Morph carelessly decided to plop down onto Meg's already heavy pile. Meg rolled her eyes and gave him an annoyed sigh.

Sarah chuckled at Meg's irritation toward the small pink creature. She continued to pick up the straggling dishes on the tables, and, once she collected a sufficient amount of dishes, she addressed Meg.

"Meg, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Sarah? We both know that you've known me long enough." Although this conversation was delayed, both understood that it was meant to be taken as if this was a normal situation. At Meg's poorly concealed embarrassment, she continued on a different subject. "I don't blame you for not hearing me. This place is loud enough to make that impossible. Besides, when you and Jim look for each other, it's like you're in another world. I know that."

Meg's reddening deepened. "That's not true." She knew her argument was weak, but did not want to admit the reality behind the mother's words.

Sarah lightly laughed at the adolescent's embarrassment and led the way to the kitchen. Meg set the dishes in the sink and began rinsing them off as Morph played in the bubbles. Meg, annoyed at the creature's playful manner, scolded it for not making itself useful. Both knew that she wasn't serious, and Morph continued with his play.

Sarah watched them, smiling. "Thank you very much Meg."

Meg looked up in surprise. "Don't thank me just yet." Despite her surprise, she attempted to shrug it off. "I haven't done anything." Her focus returned to the dishes.

The mother smiled at Meg's obliviousness. "I don't mean the dishes, Meg. I want to thank you for helping Jim." She paused, taking the time to notice Meg's confused expression. With a smile, she continued. "You helped him through a rough spot there. For a while, I was worried he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. Every night I worried that he would end up in juvenile hall because of some mischief. But then he met you." Her smile grew, as did Meg's blush. "And, well, he's doing much better now. He hasn't been in any real trouble since you've been with him. So I just wanted to thank you for getting through to him in a way I couldn't."

Meg stared back down at her hands, watching Morph maneuver around them. With a moment's hesitation, she continued rinsing the dishes. She was unaccustomed to being thanked; the last time someone was grateful for her existence was, well, never. Because of that, she didn't know how to accept it. Instead, she fell into one of her rare, but becoming increasingly more common, tongue-tied moments.

"I wasn't, I mean, I'm not…" She took a deep breath to try and regain control of her emotions. "I didn't do anything to save him. He saved me. Without him, I'd probably be on the streets by now. Or worse." Meg then fell silent, petting the swimming Morph and contemplating where she would be if he hadn't rescued her that night. She didn't like the morbid scenes that crossed her mind.

Sarah noticed Meg's increasing discomfort and pulled the young woman away from the sink and, to Meg's surprise, into an embrace. She smiled as Meg returned the hug. She knew how unlike her it was to act in this way. But she liked to pretend that she didn't see what Meg was trying to keep to herself.

"Meg, as his mother, all I ask is that you take care of him when I can't." She whispered, pausing for a minute and chuckling as she added: "And please don't break his heart, it'll be impossible to get him on the right track again."

"No pressure or anything." Meg laughed quietly, nodding and looking into Sarah's blue tear-filled eyes with her own violet ones. "Don't worry; I could never hurt him like that. Besides, I think it would be even payment for all the nights I've stayed here with the help you've given me."

The two pulled apart and recomposed themselves. They resumed working on the dishes until they heard the front door open and slam shut. Meg's eyes brightened at the sound, and, after quickly looking at Sarah for a permissive nod, rushed out the kitchen. She almost ran into Jim, the damp Morph closely in tow.

Jim smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"If you miss me this much when I'm gone an hour, I think I'll start leaving you alone longer. Imagine the reception I'd get then." Jim chuckled.

"Like a locked door." She pulled away from him and pretended to pout, her arms crossed. "Here I was trying to give you a warm welcome home like a good girlfriend, and you tease me about it." She smiled back at him teasingly. "And even after Morph and I went through all that trouble of finding you a present."

She turned away from him, Morph turning into a mini-her and sitting on her shoulder, copying her motions. Jim walked around in front of her trying to catch her attention. She simply kept turning her head away; he noticed her failure at suppressing a smile.

In mock defeat, he grabbed her hands, preparing himself to give a long and rather pathetic apology for not giving her the attention she required.

"Come on Meg, you know I didn't mean anything by—are your hands wet?" The observation erased all quick plans he had laid out.

She pulled her hands away from his grip and wiped them on her dress, leaving a few dark hand-smears. She considered telling him that he was imaging things. Then again, it would simply be better to tell him the truth. "Yeah, they are. I was helping your mom with some dishes while I was waiting for you." When he gave her an annoyed look, she continued. "It was just a little help. I'm a big tough girl, cleaning a few dishes won't hurt."

She gave him a light punch on the shoulder, and couldn't help but smile at his sheepish grin. They both knew she caught him being overprotective again.

They walked into the living room, deciding that they had given enough of a show to the guests for tonight (although it was nothing new to any of the regular customers). As soon as Jim shut the door, Meg jumped and spread out on the long dark red lounge chair as Jim leaned against the nearby bookshelf. They relished the quiet of the room for a few minutes before Jim couldn't resist anymore.

"Come on, tell me: what's this treasure you and Morph found?"

Meg smiled and turned onto her side, resting her head on her arm. "I knew it wouldn't be long before you asked."

Noticing the same eager look in his eye when anything new or unknown came up, she decided to spare him the further teasing and told Morph to go get the 'treasure'. In a few moments, Morph came back into the room, giving the sphere in his mouth to Meg. She tossed it in her hands a few times before getting up and handing it to Jim. As expected, he immediately began turning it about in his own hands, examining the markings on it. She rested her arm on his shoulder, joining him in leaning against the bookshelf and happily watching him try to decipher what the sphere was.

"I think it's a puzzle of some sort, it beeped at me when I was playing with it earlier." She bit her lip, refusing to admit that she had given up early.

Jim nodded but said nothing. It was a sign that he was concentrating deeply. After hitting a few buttons and twisting the sphere a few times in different ways, it began whirring, causing both to jump. It emitted blue and green lights that formed into a small-scale-street-level map of the neighborhood. They looked all around before Jim pointed out a building sitting on the cliff.

"Meg, this-this is the inn right here." He turned around and pointed toward a large cluster of buildings. "And there's downtown and your apartment."

A couple seconds passed before Meg could bring herself to speak. "Jim. How is this possible? What is this?" She looked confused, and went to touch the Inn. Suddenly, it moved towards her and right through her, reforming behind her, causing her to take a step back in shock. The sea moved underneath their feet, the breeze from the action ruffling both of their clothes.

Jim looked around, watching it move. After a few seconds of the image going across seascape, he took a few steps toward the quickly approaching forest. "Meg, I-I think you found a map."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious. But to what?" She didn't want to move, the idea of the ground moving so quickly under her feet was making her just about as sick as she got when she was flying. Morph seemed to feel the same way, tightly holding onto her shoulder as the room around them moved.

"I-I'm not sure. Wait- is that what I think it is?" He looked confused, before walking closer to an area marked by a planet with two rings around it. Meg looked at him questioningly before walking up next to him as the map slowed down enough for her to tolerate.

"It-it looks like a planet. But that doesn't make any sense. How can there be a planet in a planet?" She looked over at him and noticed how he was becoming increasingly excited. To her, it was something that she understood to be nonsense.

"It's Treasure Planet." he finally managed to mutter out.

She looked at him incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

He clicked a few buttons on the sphere and the map disappeared. He looked at her before explaining. "It's a childhood story-a myth. Supposedly, whoever gets their hands on that would have the riches of a thousand worlds. With that, we could finally get a house, ten houses even!" Jim became more excited and began pacing about the room, endlessly talking about the treasures that awaited them there.

Meg sat back down on the couch, holding her aching head. It was too much to absorb and too good to be true. Morph just happened to find a map in the middle of the woods that could make their dreams a reality? She knew from experience that if it was this easy, then there was definitely a huge hole in the story. There had to be a catch, or else someone else would have found it already.

Jim, on the other hand, seemed to completely ignore this fact. He was still rattling on about the treasure. "I always thought it was on another planet, but to find out that it's here, and only a boat ride away…" At this, he turned to it, a huge smile on his face. "We have to go for it." It was only then that he noticed her position. He knelt down in front of her, his hand on her knee as a means of comfort. "What's wrong?"

She looked up at him with worried eyes. "Jim, this would let us have everything we wanted, but…" she couldn't help but look away, "what are the chances that we'd find something like this that easily? It just, it can't be as good as it seems." She sighed and lowered her head; as much as she wanted this to be true and easy, her conscience was telling her otherwise. And she had learned early to trust her conscience.

She felt Jim move and sit beside her on the couch, taking her hands in his. She looked up at him. "Listen, if this treasure is true, everything we want could finally happen. But, I don't want to lose you in exchange for it. Why don't we make a deal?" At this, she looked at him inquisitively, waiting for him to finish his offer. Knowing he had her attention, he continued. "We go looking for this, together. And, if at any time you feel any more unsure about this than you already do, we'll stop and resume our lives here, just as we have before. How does that sound?"

She silently stared at him for a minute. She knew how much he really wanted this treasure to be true and to be the one to find it, but she also knew how much he loved her and that he would stop immediately if she asked him to. She sighed in defeat.

"Alright." She paused a minute before smiling at him. "But you are going to have to be the one to try and convince your mother."

He laughed a little at her, kissing her lovingly before pulling her into the kitchen to get his mother. He pulled them both back into the living room to show Sarah the map. After seeing it, Sarah was adamant that they shouldn't go, especially not by themselves. To this, Jim suggested that they could hire a crew with some of the savings he had.

Sarah then tried getting Meg to talk some sense into him, to which Meg replied that she already did. She also emphasized that he had convinced her that it was a good idea. Finally, Sarah tried grounding both of them, but to no avail.

Meg understood how Sarah felt; she was worried the same way.

Jim went to his mother and took her hands in his, similarly to how he reassured Meg. "Mom, don't worry about us. I'll be okay. Besides, I'll have Meg with me to keep me from doing something stupid. We'll make you proud."

Sarah looked over at Meg, who nodded in agreement and gave her best encouraging smile. Sarah, unable to resist one of them, let alone both, sighed and gave in. She would allow the two to go as long as they asked Delbert to help them hire a crew to take them across the sea. He seemed to have more experience than any of them in such matters.

Meg and Jim readily agreed. Within a few days, Delbert had found them a crew. The two anxiously awaited the next morning to meet the group that would hopefully deliver them to their riches.


	3. Chapter 3: Don't Make Me Change My Mind

**Disclaimer: **__**I do not own any Disney characters; Disney does, although owning them would be awesome. **

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this for me and making it awesome. **

**Anyway, please read and review; it makes me feel loved. **

Chapter 3: Don't Make Me Change My Mind

While they waited for the captain to show up, Meg and Jim sat at the small table in the living room, enveloped in discussing the particulars of the journey. They had waited for Sarah to be absent before they talked of this, else Sarah might become upset her and change her mind.

Meg convinced Jim that they should not show the crew the actual map, but instead a paper representation that Jim would later fabricate. This map would lead the crew a little ways from the spot of the actual destination. That way, the two could separate themselves from the crew and get the treasure on their own. Meg expressed that she didn't want the crew to know about the treasure; they would get their fair share of it after it was found. If they knew about it, they might revolt and put the two in danger.

After deciding how to handle the crew, they came upon a much more difficult topic.

Jim watched her scrutinize the map, with Morph reading it over her shoulder. He took a deep breath, knowing she wasn't going to like what he had to say.

"Meg, listen. If something happens to me, or it becomes too dangerous, I want you and Morph to leave me behind and get out of there."

She casually looked up from the map, obviously not taking his proclamation very seriously. "What are you talking about?"

Jim sighed, repeating himself. "I want you to leave me behind if things get ugly."

Fear filled her eyes, but she hid it before he could notice. "You're out of your mind." She stared directly at him, hoping for some sign of uncertainty, but instead receiving only a determined stare in return.

"I'm serious. I don't want anything to happen to you."

She stood up suddenly, slamming her hands on the table and frightening Morph. "I'm not going to just leave you behind!" Realizing her reaction to be a little on the extreme side, she quieted, her hands falling down to her sides and her head lowering. "Not after everything we've been through."

Jim sighed, walking to her side of the table and reaching for one of her hands. She pulled it away from him and he sighed. "Listen, we both know you're only doing this with me because I want to go." He tilted her chin up, seeing a few tears run down her cheeks. "I just don't want anything to happen to you because of me. So please promise that you'll do this. For me?"

Meg stared at him, still trying to look for any signal of possible wavering. Upon seeing how determined he was to make her agree, she sighed. She looked down again in what he hoped was defeat, for there was no way to change his decision. To his surprise and dismay, she looked back up at him with an unrelenting stare, all panic now replaced with determination. He knew it wasn't a good sign when she had that look in her eyes. She proved his theory right when she crossed her arms stubbornly and requested something of him instead of responding to his own plea.

"Jim, before I answer, tell me one thing: if this was a similar situation and I asked you to leave me behind, would you?"

He was stunned. He should have known to expect something like this from her. But he had never considered that she was as protective of him as he was of her. Despite her façade of a tough exterior, he saw the concerned look in her eyes, desperate for an answer and on the verge of tears again. It troubled him; she never cried, at least not in front of him, and now she was about to do so twice in ten minutes. Jim didn't think that asking her to save herself from harm would upset her this much; then again, he also didn't expect her to be as concerned as she was about the map or the journey itself either. He took a deep breath, hoping his answer wouldn't come to hurt them both later.

"No, I couldn't."

Meg smiled at him, the threat of tears leaving her eyes along with her false exterior. She moved closer and wrapped her arms around his neck as he smiled back triumphantly at her. She gave him a long kiss, deepening it when she felt him relax and put his arms around her waist. She pulled back first, looking into his pleased face.

"Then you have my answer." She pulled out of his arms and sat back down at the table, looking back at the map and thoughtfully petting Morph. She tried to calm herself back down; she didn't want Jim to see how upset she really was. She couldn't believe that he would ask her something like that. She heard him stuttering, trying to make sense of what she just said, but refused to look back at him with the fear she would give into what he wanted-again.

Meg heard him walk to her side and attempt to form some convincing argument against her plan as well gain her attention from the map, but she was determined not to look at him. Fortunately, she didn't have to resist for long before Sarah knocked on the door and announced that someone was looking for them.

Meg smiled at her and asked that she bring the guest to their current room for a more comfortable and private discussion. Sarah, decidedly ignoring the tension in the room, nodded and left to receive the guest. Once she was gone, Meg looked at Jim who was still turning the gears in his head trying to think of some way to convince her in the tiny amount of time he had remaining. She sighed and smiled at him.

"You can stop; it won't work." His mouth was agape for a second and he tried to argue, but she put a finger to his lips and continued. "I won't promise to leave you because I can't. But I will promise you that I will be safe from any harm." She flashed her own triumphant smirk at him after he mused over it for a second, decided that it was probably the most he could get her to agree to, and nodded in acceptance. She gave him another quick kiss before their guest entered the room.

He was a rather large man, though calling him a cyborg would be more accurate. His right arm, leg, and eye were all replaced with silver or gold machine parts seemingly crafted to be even more useful than the missing ones. He stood a good foot taller than the both of them, causing Meg to think neither her or Jim, who had little physical presence in comparison, could stand up to him if necessity called. She shook her head a little, wondering why such a disturbing thought came to her head; she hadn't even met him yet and was already being cynical of his character. She hadn't been like that to anyone since she met Jim. To compensate, she tried to give the cyborg the warmest smile possible as Jim took her by the hand and went to introduce them both.

"You must be the captain that Dr. Doppler hired for our trip. I'm Jim." Jim shook the man's metal hand as Meg inwardly laughed at how weird that had to feel.

"Yes. The name's Silver and I'll be leading this voyage, following your map, Jimbo." Silver turned his attention towards Meg, eyeing her up and down. "And I suppose this is the lass who planned the trip?"

She suppressed the shiver that ran through her body as he stared at her. He made her extremely uncomfortable and seemed to study her much longer than necessary. She knew that she wasn't discomfited by of his overall appearance, but more because of the look in his eye. Every instinct she had ever formed living on her own screamed to get away from this man. She stole a quick glance at Jim to see if he felt the same. Jim was just excitedly smiling, seeming not to notice anything wrong about Silver. If Jim didn't notice any danger with his protective instincts, she figured she must just be overly sensitive; she put those thoughts to the back of her mind, deciding to simply watch Silver for anything strange.

She turned her attention back to the cyborg. She smiled. "Name's Megara, friends call me Meg."

"Meg, hmm." He repeated as he shook her hand, sending more chills down her spine. He then diverted his attention back to Jim. Meg breathed a small sigh of relief that he had finished scrutinizing her. "So Jimbo, let's see this map."

Jim led him to the table, where the two took a seat while Meg went and sat on the couch, hoping it would give her some of the comfort it usually did. She listened to the two go over details and expectations. They discussed that it would probably take only a day or a day and a half to get to the marked spot on the map, a day or two to find what they needed, and then another day or so for the return trip, bringing them back home within the week. Meg smiled; the quicker they got this trip over with, the faster she and Jim would not have to deal with this Silver anymore. After about an hour of talking, Silver brought up a few questions. "So, what is it we be looking for, 'eh? That be a mighty odd place to travel to for two kids who look like they've never left home."

Meg froze for a second; she and Jim hadn't quite thought of a reason that they would tell the crew they were going out there for. They both had just assumed the crew wouldn't ask any questions. Meg interrupted the conversation before Jim could start talking nonsense and give their lie away.

"There's a rare plant out there that Jim's mother really likes, and we thought it would be a great present to give her considering how tough business has been lately. We hoped it would cheer her up like they used to when they bloomed nearby here." Thinking that Silver might ask what kind of plant, she continued, shrugging like it was only a side note. "Once Jim sees it, he'll know what it is and we'll be set to go."

Silver looked at her curiously. "Hiring a crew for just that? Seems a waste of money if ye ask me."

She crossed her arms and stared him down. "It's too far a trip to take on a solar surfer, and I'm not riding on one of those death-traps anyway. Neither of us can navigate a boat nor are there any that go there regularly, so we needed to hire a vessel to take us there. It was our only choice." She hoped that her attitude would deter any more questions. She went to look at the ocean through the window, pretending to be more annoyed than she was so that he would get the hint that they really didn't want his opinion.

Meg heard him chuckle. "Little ball of energy ye got yerself there, Jimbo." She heard Jim quietly laugh in agreement as Silver continued and pointed at Meg. "Yer girlfriend there coming with us?"

Jim nodded. Silver seemed to study the two a minute longer before taking his leave. "Well, we be setting off in two days. I'll see ye aboard the ship then." Jim said his goodbye and when Silver addressed Meg, she merely waved over her shoulder, eyes never leaving the window or the water beyond. Silver smiled at her a moment longer before chuckling and shaking his head, leaving the inn.

She continued gazing at the sea until she felt Morph rubbing her cheek. She turned her attention to him, seeing the concern in his little eyes. "You feel the same way about him, don't you?" The blob nodded. She smiled at him, offering her hand for him to rest on. When he did, she began petting him with her other hand, returning her gaze out the window. "It's okay Morph, we'll just watch for now."

Meg heard Jim walk up behind her and felt him put his arms around her waist. "Watch what?"

She turned around and looked at him, checking over his shoulder that the door was shut. "You didn't notice?"

He looked at her confused. "What are you talking about?" Meg sighed in return and pulled away from Jim, looking at Morph, and receiving a shrug in return. Jim looked back and forward between the two, noticing her hesitation. "Did I miss something?"

She bit her lip, unsure if she should tell him. At the anxious look in his eye, she quietly exhaled before telling him of her suspicions. The more she told him and struggled to explain, the more disbelief he looked at her with, rubbing his chin in thought all the while. Once she finished, she apprehensively looked at him, hands clutched together, waiting for some sort of response.

After what seemed like a decade of silence, he finally addressed her. "Are you sure you aren't just seeing him that way because you want an excuse not to go?"

She was dumbfounded. After reeling in shock, she crossed her arms and looked at him angrily. "No, I already told you. I don't like the way we found the map. He's petty and dishonest, and I can tell because-" she stopped herself and looked away, knowing that, if she continued her argument, Jim would believe her less.

Unfortunately, Jim already caught that she broke off mid-argument; he was not going to let this opportunity to jump-start their lives together slip through their fingers without good reason. He suspected that Meg was simply trying to get out of going on this trip, especially since she wasn't a fan of it to begin with. ""Because" why? Why don't you like him?" He chuckled, thinking she was just playing with him again. "What? Does the big old cyborg scare you?"

She quickly turned her attention back to him, her eyes narrowing in anger. "I've seen worse than him and they didn't worry me. I don't trust him because he acts exactly like my ex did when he was cheating on me. He has that same sneaky look in his eye. He's hiding something and I know it's not good." She moved to lean against the bookshelf, again looking away from Jim, the anger in her eyes being replaced with pain. "You wouldn't understand."

Jim stared at her for a minute. He crossed his arms, oblivious to her sudden change in demeanor. "How do you know he doesn't just have some family secret or something? You're assuming the worst about someone you just met." He sighed. "You haven't been like this since we met. I thought you weren't like that anymore."

She was speechless. Was he going to ignore everything she said and not even consider that something was wrong because Silver reminded her of her ex? He instead believed something was wrong with her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Fine. Don't believe me. Have fun on your little treasure hunt without me." She pushed herself away from the bookshelf and stormed towards the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Jim called after her, trying to catch up.

She stopped and looked at him over her shoulder. "I'm going home. When you finally have some sense knocked into that thick head of yours, you know where to find me." With that, she walked out the door, a few tears running down her cheeks. She ignored him as he pleaded with her to come back. She knew she was being a little unreasonable, but she hated the idea that Jim would trust a man he barely knew. Especially when he believed that man more than he believed her, even if she was overreacting. But what really upset her was that he went back on his promise to her that easily; she made it very clear that Silver made her uncomfortable, but instead of calling the trip off like he said he would, he was determined to continue it.

About halfway between getting her emotions and thoughts back into check and about that far from her apartment, she heard someone behind her. She turned quickly, prepared to defend herself against the follower, the memories of the guys trying to hit on her flooding her mind. The only difference was that, this time, there would be no Jim to come to her aid.


	4. Chapter 4: This Is Not What I Intended

**Disclaimer: **__**I do not own any Disney characters; Disney does, although owning them would be awesome. **

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this for me and making it awesome. **

**Anyway, please read and review; it makes me feel loved. **

Chapter 4: This Is Not What I Intended

Meg knew she heard someone, but no one was behind her. She took the time to look around carefully, trying to locate any evidence of her follower. After a few minutes of surveying her surroundings, she sighed. She let down her guard, convinced that she was just on edge because of the night's events. She shook her head lightly and turned around, jumping in surprise to find the little pink blob in front of her.

"Morph! What are you _doing_ here?" He cowered slightly at her angry tone. Meg, suddenly feeling guilty, took a few deep breaths to recompose herself, smiling at him so that he would come closer. She waited for him to relax enough to rest in her hand before talking to him again. "What are you doing out here? You should be with Jim."

The pink blob squirmed around excitedly, changing into a small 'Jim' that was gesturing to a miniature 'Morph', the 'Morph' zooming off while the 'Jim' seemed to sit down depressed. After showing the scene, Morph reformed himself and, after motioning for Meg to follow, began to head back toward the inn.

Meg took a moment to register what Morph conveyed. Usually the little blob's messages were difficult to decipher. But, by the looks of it, Jim was worried about her and sent Morph to make sure she made it home safe; presumably because he figured she was still steaming mad and wouldn't want to talk to him if he came after her. She wondered if that was right.

She chuckled to herself. She may hold long grudges against others, but she could never stay angry at him long, even after the worst of their fights. Noticing Morph's sign, she moved quickly to catch him in her hands before he got too far away.

"Now hold on, Morph." She laughed at the little creature as he tried to escape. "Why should I make this easier on Jim? If he's as upset as you show he is, then he can find me himself. He'll get the hint to come over eventually."

Morph looked questioningly at her then in the direction of the inn, unsure of which to choose. She smiled reassuringly at him. "You'll come home with me and we'll wait for Jim together, ok?"

He moved in her hands excitedly; he had never been to her house before and had always wanted to accompany her there. Meg saw Morph's eager look and her smile widened. She moved him up to her shoulder where he grabbed on and hid from the cold in her hair.

As soon as she unlocked and opened the door, Morph launched himself off of her shoulder, speeding around every corner of her apartment. Meg smiled and chuckled at his excitement, turning to bolt the door behind her. She then went and jumped on her couch, leaning on an arm to watch Morph zip through the two adjacent rooms in her apartment.

She had to admit that it was rather small. The apartment was made up of her bedroom (if you could call it that, as it was only big enough for a mattress and a small closet), a miniscule bathroom, something that might be able to be called a kitchen, and the living room that she was currently in. It was very plain; she had no decorations or nice furnishings besides the red couch she laid on. The only reason she had even that was because Jim had helped her buy it. It was similar to the one at his house and would give her a sense of being near him and some notion of family, even if she was on the other side of town. Or so he believed. In reality, it often made her miss him and eventually go over to his house, and currently made it very difficult for her to not go back to his place and abandon her plan. But she would endure. After all, he needed to understand that a bad feeling, especially one noticed by her, was always dangerous to ignore.

Meg hadn't realized that she'd fallen asleep while thinking until she heard some heavy footsteps and Morph growling. She swiftly stood up and moved opposite the source of the noise, turning and realizing three important things: 1) there were 3 large men in her room, 2) one of them was Silver, and 3) the men were blocking the door and her only chance for escape.

After scanning the room and finding no other chances for escape, she decided that she would have to try and talk her way out of this, even though she had not been very successful at it lately.

"Ye know lass; it be rather unsafe to leave yer door unlocked in a place like this." Silver smiled in a friendly manner, taking a step toward her.

She took a step back, glaring at him, Morph speeding over to her shoulder. "I didn't forget. What do you want?"

Silver pretended to look hurt. "Well, lass, that's not a good way to get on the right side of the crew."

"And why would I care?"

He chuckled, causing her temper to flare. "Because, lass, if ye don't be careful, ye might get innocent people hurt." He saw her freeze and continued. "After all, ye make too much noise and other people in this building might get involved."

She glared at him and crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

Silver's smile widened, making Meg roll her eyes in return. "We can discuss that when we get to the ship. Fer now, we just need ye to follow us." He gestured out the door.

She left with the two other pirates behind her, flanking each side. She locked her door and proceeded to follow Silver out, his two lackeys in tow.

They walked down to the docks and onto a rather large ship filled with more pirates and more chances for escape. The crab-looking pirate saw her scanning her surroundings and went to put a claw on her shoulder as a form of restraint. When he got close, Morph bit him. The crab-pirate howled in pain and anger and went to cut Morph in half, but the latter had already zoomed away and into Meg's protective hands.

Towering over Meg, the crab-pirate put a claw to her face. "Give me the creature, girl."

She looked at him unwaveringly. "I don't think so."

The crab turned brighter red with fury. "Why you-"

"Mr. Scroop, that be enough. We don't need ye hinderin' our ability to get information about the treasure do we now?" Silver grabbed the claw pointed at her and began squeezing it so hard that Mr. Scroop flinched. The latter growled and walked away from them and to where the other pirates were grouped.

When he saw that Mr. Scroop was far enough away and that the rest of the pirates were cowering under his glare, he turned to Meg. "Now, lass, does yer little friend there know where to find Jimbo?"

Meg looked at the pirates and back at him. Even if they were all scared of him, she couldn't be, not if she wanted to get out of this mess. "Even if he does, why would I tell you?"

Silver chucked and shook his head at her stubbornness. "Well lass, we could go get him, but imagine what could happen to his mother and that dear inn of hers when we'd arrive. And as ye see, these men are very hard to control when they be forced to wait. And we can't send ye, because ye'd just warn the lad and run off, leaving his mother as the only way to get ye and the map back. Ye see the predicament ye be in if that blob don't know the way?"

Her eyes widened. He had this trap all figured out from the get-go. She couldn't involve Sarah, not after all the woman had done for Meg. But she had to insure that Jim wouldn't be hurt, not because of her.

"If I get Morph to bring Jim here, swear on your life that he will not be harmed."

"I threaten your friends and yer little lover being harmed is what you're worried about."

She said nothing, but continued staring at him unrelentingly.

Silver laughed. "All right lass, if that's yer only condition. As long as he is on this ship or at this port, no harm will come to him."

She stared at him a minute, thinking. There were far too many loopholes in that deal for her liking, but the odds were against her for gaining a better deal, so she sighed and nodded, turning her attention to the squirming Morph in her hands.

"Morph, you know where we are, right?" She waited for a small nod from the blob, but he was so scared by all the pirates glaring at him, that he was distracted from what she had asked him.

"Morph!" She shouted to gain his attention. When she had it, she continued. "Don't worry about them, just look at me. Now, you know where we are?" At this, he nodded and she smiled. "Good, now I need you to go get Jim and lead him here. Try the inn first, then my place, and the park; that's most likely the order of places he will go. Do you understand me?"

Morph nodded, but didn't move. He gestured to her and she sighed.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just go do this for me. Okay?" He nodded and zoomed off to find Jim.

She smiled as she watched him leave. As she turned back to Silver, her smile disappeared, instead replaced with an angry stare and crossed arms. "Good enough for you?"

Silver's smile never wavered. "Almost. I'm afraid we have to tie ye up and put you in the lifeboat, can't be having ye _influence_ Jimbo's decisions now can we?"

_He means they can't have me influencing his thoughts against their plans, _Meg thought to herself. She glared at him, but said nothing in argument, as they bound and gagged her and carried her into a life boat, a fat pirate with a tiny head sitting behind her with a gun in his lap, pointed toward her.

Silver nodded in approval and leaned against one of the banisters. "Now we wait for Jimbo to show up."

Meg lowered her head. She messed up. If she hadn't left as angrily as she did and wasn't so stubborn about proving herself right, neither she nor Jim would be stuck in this situation. Both of their lives were on the line – all because she found that stupid map. She heard a few of the pirates talking and tried to listen without giving any sign of her eavesdropping.

"But Silver, what if he leaves the boat?"

"Then he's free-range. You can't touch him if he's on the boat or in this city, I never made a deal about other times."

Meg flinched. The huge loophole was there glaring in her face. If Jim left the boat, which she knew he would because of how badly he wanted to see the treasure, they could, and probably would, kill him. Her shoulders stiffened; she had to think of some way to keep him on the boat and with her.

"Oh, and Megara?" She jumped at her name being called, seeing Silver stare right at her. "Ye tell Jimbo a word of this, and the deal is off, and Jimbo will die.

She glared at him, but her gaze returned to the floor. Every idea she had was falling apart around her, and she was finding it increasingly difficult to keep the pieces together. Now all she could do was wait for Jim to find her.

Author's note: Now things will finally be getting interesting, or at least, now we're at the part I actually have planned, or at least mostly planned. I think it will only be a few more chapters longer, depending on how I deal with the ending.

So yeah, reviews = chapters come out faster.


	5. Chapter 5: Hold On To Your Words

**Disclaimer: **__**I do not own any Disney characters; Disney does, although owning them would be awesome. **

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this for me and making it awesome. **

**Anyway, please read and review; it makes me feel loved. **

Chapter 5: Hold On To Your Words

She couldn't tell how long she'd been sitting there staring at her feet, hoping for some plan to form. Meg desperately searched every corner of her mind to think of a way to keep Jim with her on the ship. Or, at the very least, alive if he was still determined to see the treasure. She tried recalling memories as far back as her childhood, sifting through escape plans she frequently used to flee from her father, her betrothed, and their expectations for her. But none of them even vaguely applied to her current situation. Not even the deals she tried to make with her father when she attempted to break off the betrothal.

She sighed. Her father. He would probably be laughing if he heard about this. And he would be gloating, saying that she was stuck in this situation because she didn't follow his expectations and tried to act against his plans. And he would add that's she's never been good at making deals, so she should stop before she inevitably makes things worse, just as a slap in the face.

Meg lightly shook her head. She couldn't be thinking about that man right now; she had to focus on the one who truly mattered. She continued trying to think of something-anything-that could help her problem, even a little. But the longer she thought and the more she ran into dead-end ideas, the further her head sank.

"Meg!"

Her head jolted up, looking around for the voice that called her name. When she saw Jim, her heart skipped a beat. He actually came for her. However, as her surprise waned, her stomach sank as she realized he was now stuck there as another pawn in Silver's game.

"Lad, what took ye so long? We almost had t' start the party without ye." Silver walked over to him welcomingly, like it was just a normal meeting. Jim, however, was not amused. He glared at the pirate as Morph came out of his pocket and positioned himself near Jim's shoulder, teeth bared.

"Let her go."

"No can do, Jimbo. Ye see, she's our guarantee that you'll give us the map we need."

Jim furrowed his eyebrows while he pulled the map out of his pocket. "You mean this thing? You thought you had to hold her hostage just to get this from me?" He tossed it to Silver. "Have it."

Silver chuckled. "Afraid it's not that simple lad. Y' see, we need ye to open the map for us and lead us to the treasure. Ye seem to be the only one who can figure out that blasted thing." Silver playfully tossed it back to Jim.

Jim thought for a moment. "If I open this, and take you to the treasure, will you let Meg go and leave her alone?"

Silver looked at Meg for a moment, and then returned his focus to Jim. "The lass? Sure, ye take us straight to the treasure and she won't be harmed by anyone on this ship." Silver chuckled as he watched Jim, who appeared to be contemplating various ways to get the best deal out of Silver, just as Meg had attempted before. "Of course, lad, if ye refuse to open that map or take the current deal, I'll just remove her from the equation right now." With that, he turned his robotic arm into a laser pistol and pointed it at her, cocking it to reinforce his threat.

Meg flinched. She didn't expect the pirates to be that desperate to get the map open. Of course, now it made more sense as to why they seemed to have any possible action of hers or Jim's and the respective counteractions already planned out. She trembled, never being this close to death before. Still, she wasn't about to let Jim's life and future be endangered because of her.

Jim's attention flickered between her and Silver, his confusion and stress rapidly becoming more apparent. But when his eyes locked with her frightened ones and saw her frantically shaking her head at him in spite of her fear, his determination strengthened.

Jim, sighing angrily as he glared at Silver, unlocked the puzzle. The map revealed itself to the pirates. Meg closed her eyes. It was bad enough that she was on a ship; she was certain that if she saw the map moving again, she would lose her lunch.

She waited to hear the small beep of the map disappearing back within the orb before reopening her eyes.

"As long as she is safe, you'll have the map."

Silver chuckled. "Alright Jimbo, deal." Jim looked relieved, and smiled at her, waiting for the men to untie and release her, thinking they'd let her go back home. "Men, take the lass t' the room prepared downstairs."

Jim's confusion was obvious. "What? I'm giving you the map and a guide. She's no use to you, so let her go!"

Silver smirked at him. "On the contrary, lad, the lass is more useful t' us now than she was before. As long as she is with us, ye have no choice to do what we want. What, ye thought that we would let her go? Lad, ye have a lot t' learn. Take the lass down below so we can discuss the trip without her as a distraction." With that, he nodded his head toward the men, who picked her up and took her below the deck. Jim and Meg desperately looked at one another, hoping that they had some sort of plan.

She landed with a hard thud on the floor. To say the pirates were rough brutes would be an understatement. The pirates laughed at her as she pulled the gag out of her mouth.

"Stupid kids; they always think sacrificing themselves for one another will fix everything."

"Yeah, when will they learn life doesn't work that way?"

"Probably when they stop believing in fairytales and happy endings."

The pirates' laughs and jeers continued drifting to her from outside the room as the door was bolted shut. She glared at the door before giving in, sighing and sitting on the nearby bed, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm. She continued to watch the door, hoping that Jim would come through it any second and tell her that he had a plan to get her and everyone he knew out of this mess and away from danger.

But she knew this was all for naught. They were both stuck in this mess and would have to try to appease these pirates just to stay alive and get back home. Meg groaned. She loathed acting according to someone else's rules, especially if they were set by self-important, greedy people like the pirates. She sighed, having nothing to do but to wait.

She didn't know how long she sat there. Time didn't seem to be one of her friends lately. Then, the door slammed open, revealing Jim and Silver right behind him. Meg jumped off of the bed and hugged him, relieved that he was ok. But before either of them could say a word, Silver addressed her.

"Remember lass: some things be better left unsaid. Secrets have a funny way of showing themselves at bad times." With that, he left.

She shivered. She had a bad feeling that he meant more than just their deal-that he somehow knew her secrets too. She shook her head lightly. There was no way he could know about her past; no one knew about it except her father and his closest followers, and she hadn't seen any of them since the day she left.

She pushed herself away from Jim and looked at him. "I-I'm so sorry, Jim. I-I shouldn't have left like that. This is all my-" He cut her off with his mouth on hers. She pulled back a little in surprise, but relaxed and kissed him back. "Fault," she managed to breathe out when they finally pulled apart. She blinked, confused.

Jim smiled back at her, pushing her bangs out of her eyes and taking one of her hands in both of his. "None of this is your fault. Don't even think that."

"But, if I didn't leave, they never would have-" She attempted to argue, but was cut off.

"If you didn't leave, my mother and all of her patrons would have probably been involved in this, something you and I both wanted to prevent." He smiled wider at her. "If anything, you saved the inn and my mother by getting angry with me, and I'm grateful for that. So stop trying to make this only a bad thing and quit blaming yourself."

She smiled back at him, and they both moved over to sit on the bed. Meg looked out the window for the first time and noticed that the mainland was far on the horizon. She hadn't even noticed that they left port; the boat constantly rocked, so she wouldn't notice if the rocking intensified. Of course, in that room, she couldn't hear much at all unless someone was passing in the hallway. The knowledge of how far they were from shore suddenly dawned on her and she paled, feeling extremely sick to her stomach. While she loved looking at the ocean, she couldn't handle traveling on it.

Jim noticed her sudden change in demeanor and helped her lay on the bed, sitting between her and the window, and thus trying to turning her attention to him instead. Morph wriggled out of his pocket and made himself a nest in Meg's hair, causing a chuckle from both of them. "Try to relax. We're going to have a long day ahead of us tomorrow; we might as well get some rest now."

She looked at him and smiled. "Are you going to sleep?"

He grinned back at her. "I'll wait until you fall asleep, to make sure you don't get sick.

She nodded and rolled onto her side, trying to get comfortable enough to pass out. Soon enough, the rocking of the ship was somehow able to lull her to sleep.

She woke up the next morning to the light shining through the window and a vision of trees outside. She groaned. While she was extremely thankful that they had finally landed, she knew that it meant the nightmare of last night was real. She sat up and looked around, seeing Jim sitting against the door.

"Jim, what are you doing over there? I thought you were going to sleep as soon as I did."

He looked up at her and smiled. "Good morning to you too. I did go to sleep after you, just against the door. I didn't want anyone sneaking in and trying to do something to us while we were asleep."

She nodded in understanding and smiled at him. "Well, my knight in shining armor, come over here and spend some time with me before those idiots ruin the moment."

He chuckled at her new nickname for him and jumped on the bed next to her. She shifted closer to him and rested her head against his shoulder, sighing as she entwined her fingers with his.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Meg broke it. She shifted a little so she could look into his grey-blue eyes. "Stay here with me."

Jim looked at her confused for a moment. "What?"

She turned around, unlacing their fingers and sitting in front of him. "You don't have to lead them straight to the treasure. You can open the map for them, send them on their way, and stay here on the boat safe with me. "

"Meg…"

"And if the map goes haywire on them, they can always come back and have you fix it. So you don't have to go."

"Meg… yes I do. Part of the deal to keep you safe is that I have to personally lead them to the treasure. "

"Then I'll go with you," she pleaded. She didn't want him out there with the pirates alone.

"No, I need you to stay on the ship so I can, at least, know you're safe."

She looked down. No matter how much she argued or told him that she couldn't stand not knowing if he was going to be safe, he wasn't going to let her go with him. She didn't like that there were just too many things that could go wrong.

He grabbed her hand. She glanced up at him.

"No matter what, I'm yours to keep, and I always will be. I promise I'll stay safe, just for you. And if it makes you feel better, I'll take Morph with me."

She chuckled. It wasn't exactly the guarantee she was hoping for, but at least it ensured that he wouldn't do anything without thinking. And, worst case scenario, Morph would at least be able to come find her and tell her if something went wrong. She smiled back at him as they came closer to seal the promise with a kiss like they usually did. However, right before they made contact, Silver barged in the room, causing them to pull away in surprise.

"Enough play time kiddies! Time to earn yer stay on this here ship."

Both of them sighed and smiled at one another, re-lacing their hands and following Silver on deck.

When they got on deck, they saw the entire crew with picks and shovels, ready to find and dig up a treasure. Jim turned and looked at her. She smiled up at him.

"Please be careful. For me?" She whispered to him, her violet eyes bright with worry. He smiled as he hugged her.

"I will. Just stay here, please." She nodded into his chest.

They pulled apart and Jim walked over to Silver. Meg wrapped her arms around herself, watching Jim leave. She fought to resist the urge to cry; she had a terrible feeling something bad was going to happen and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Silver raised an eyebrow at Jim. "The lass isn't joining us?"

Jim didn't even bother looking at him. "No, she's not."

Silver chuckled. "Alright then Jimbo. I'll leave someone here to watch over her then. Isn't safe to leave a woman alone." Silver looked up for a minute, seemingly thinking about which member to leave. If he left the crab-thing with her, she was going to seriously question the existence of Silver's mind. "Kale. Stay here with the lass."

She blinked in confusion. It couldn't be the same Kale from her past. It couldn't be _his_ friend Kale. She heard the man answer, "Aye, sir" and groaned inwardly. It was, and she knew he would recognize her. But if Kale was here, then where was _he_? Those two were never that far from one another.

Fortunately, he had yet to say anything, so Meg pretended like she had no idea who the man was that now stood next to her. She didn't even bother to glance at him. She waved lightly as Jim left, receiving a small, sad wave from Morph and a reassuring smile from Jim. When he and the crew were far enough inland to be well out of earshot of any conversation onboard the ship, she turned to Kale.

"Thank you for not saying anything in front of him."

"You seemed like you didn't want me to, so I didn't."

She smiled at him. Kale may be _his _friend, but he always was the more conscientious of the two. She frowned and crossed her arms. "If you're here, that means he is too. So where is he?" When she saw Kale's hesitance, she continued. "I don't want him saying anything to Jim. I left him, I left that house and city, and I am not going back. I don't want him saying or doing something to ruin my new life with Jim. And he needs to know that."

Kale sighed. "Meg, I don't know where he is right now. Else I would tell you. But you know he-"

Bang.

A gunshot rang through the air. Meg froze. The shot came from the forest, exactly in the direction Jim and the pirates went towards. Instinctively, she knew Jim was in trouble, and she felt sick to her stomach.

"Meg…" Kale began, but stopped when he saw her trembling. She stopped and looked up.

"I'm going after them." She started to run off the ship, but stopped when Kale grabbed her wrist.

"Meg, you know there's nothing you can do for him. You don't need to see it."

She pulled out of his grip. "You don't know that. I have to see that he's alright, and you can't stop me."

With that, she ran into the forest, as fast as she could, begging that her instincts were wrong.


	6. Chapter 6: Remember Me Tonight

**Disclaimer: **__**I do not own any Disney characters; Disney does. **

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this and making it make sense as well as my readers for sticking with me this long. **

**Side note: Some details from here on don't exactly match with the first chapter. You probably won't notice, as it only changes one small-ish chunk in the first chapter. If you did notice without looking, congrats, you get a cookie for paying attention. Also, sorry that this chapter took so long, I hit a major writing block and it took me a while to finally decide which path I wanted to take this story on. **

Chapter 6: Remember Me Tonight

Deeper and deeper into the forest she ran, her eyes scanning her surroundings for any sign of Jim or the pirates. She stopped and rested against a nearby pine tree, breathless. She looked around. The group left only a few minutes earlier, so they shouldn't be too far ahead of her- she should catch up any minute now. Meg glanced down the path and blinked. The forest seemed to thin out and expand into a field not far from where she was resting. She walked toward the clearing, quickening her pace as she approached, hoping for a sign.

She shaded her eyes as she entered the sunlit area, finding just the clue that she hoped for. A rather large path weaved its way through the brown, knee-high grass, most likely created by the large group of pirates Silver and Jim had accompanying them.

"Jim, where are you?" She whispered to herself. She walked through the field and scanned the area for any oddly placed flat areas, stopping when she realized what she was doing. Meg crossed her arms and thought.

_Why am I doing this? Why did I assume THAT? I should just go back to the ship and wait for him like he said. No one is hurt, that's irrational. That gunshot was probably just them… celebrating finding the treasure or something. That has to be it!_

She wentto turn around, but paused, sighing and rubbing her temples.

_Gods, my optimism makes less sense than my pessimism. Focus, girl! Find Jim so we can go home as soon as possible. Waiting any longer is just begging for the worst._

Meg shook her head and continued walking through the field. She knew someone was shot and had to make sure that Jim wasn't on either side of that gun.

She continued walking through the field for a few minutes before approaching what appeared to be a large shrine of some sort surrounded by huge boulders.

_Wow, can't this island decide on what type of environment it wants to have. Beach, forest, plains, and now this? No wonder the treasure's on this island, you'd be lucky to ever find it without the map._

She approached what she assumed to be the building's front door and studied the marks on it, looking for any sign of recent movement that would suggest the pirates messed with it. But there were none. The entire structure was covered with mostly uninterrupted moss lining the patterns. She sighed, looking over it, lightly following the odd designs with her fingers. "Now why would something like you be in the middle of nowhere?" She groaned, closing her eyes as she mentally slapped herself. She was supposed to be looking for Jim, not studying some meaningless old building.

She turned around to recheck the forest and field for clues, but stopped as she heard a moan coming from behind her.

"Hello?" She called waveringly before chastising herself for sounding so cowardly. There was a minute of silence before she heard the moan again.

She walked slowly along the side of the building and towards the sound. Whoever it was coming from was in pain, a lot of pain. She paused and ran back to the forest, grabbing a good-sized branch for some protection, although Meg doubted it would be of any use besides self-reassurance. She returned to the building and silently crept closer to the sound, thankful that her practice sneaking out of the guarded mansion had finally come in handy. Rocks arching over the entire structure increasingly darkened the pathway the further Meg continued into it.

Several times she thought about backtracking and searching elsewhere, but the echoing moans and her curiosity pushed her to the end. As she neared the end and stopped, she chuckled to herself and prepared to dismiss the noise as the wind hitting the pseudo-cave just right and making that moaning sound. Until she realized that there was no wind today, and caves didn't have black boots. And that the cave was completely devoid of rocks besides this large brown lump in front of her attached to the boots.

She set the branch down beside her as she knelt to the floor. She put one hand on her chest to calm herself down and tried to level out her breathing as she used the other to touch the 'rock.' Her hand retracted and she gasped as the lump moaned. It definitely was not a rock: it was soft and yielding, not rough and solid. Meg took another few breaths to recompose herself, before gripping the material and removing it, her hands flying to cover her mouth as she understood.

One of her greatest fears had come true. It was Jim lying there on the floor, his lower right side covered in blood.


	7. Chapter 7: Won't Live To See Another Day

**Disclaimer: **__**I do not own any Disney characters; Disney does. **

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this and making it make sense as well as my readers for sticking with me this long. **

**A/n: Sorry the last chapter was so short. I'll try to start going back to semi-regular (aka once a month-ish) updates. However I really can't guarantee anything because of school and all. So, enjoy! **

Chapter 7: I Won't Live To See Another Day

"Jim? I don't… I didn't … This can't be…"

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at him. Over and over her mind replayed the last few days, torturing her with the dozens of opportunities to prevent this and the hundreds of choices she had that could have saved him. The longer Meg stared at him through her tears, the more she imagined him still breathing, and the more she had to remind herself that he was gone and there was no bringing him back, causing her to cry even harder.

After a few agonizing minutes, she tore her eyes from him, instead weeping into her hands. But even that did not remove the sight of his lifeless body from her vision. It was like it was engrained into her mind, not allowing her to forget her part in his unfortunate demise. She couldn't say how long she sat there mourning. Maybe it was an hour, maybe only a few minutes, it didn't really matter.

In the midst of her weeping, she felt a hand gently touch her knee, causing her to jerk in surprise and remove her hands from their current home in front of her eyes. Meg looked down and found Jim's eyes gazing deeply at her. However, instead of their normal playful glow, his grey-blue eyes were overshadowed with pain.

With a small smile, he shakily raised his hand from her knee and tried to reach for her face to wipe the tears away. About halfway up, he winced from stretching his wound and retracted his hand back to the injury, gasping in pain. Meg took his bloodied hand away from his gash and held it with both of hers, more concerned about pulling injury even further open than having his blood on her. He smiled at her in thanks, but she couldn't bring herself to return it.

"Jim, I'm sorry. If I knew this would happen, I-" she began, but stopped as Jim lightly squeezed her hand and shook his head.

"You couldn't have known, so don't start blaming yourself again." Meg bit her lip and nodded so Jim continued, "Listen to me, there's something more important right now. You need to get away from here. Find Morph and go." He grunted in pain. Meg clasped his hand in an attempt to give him some kind of comfort before shaking her head in dissent and attempting to argue. He quickly interrupted her. "Yes, you have to go. Those pirates will know you left the ship soon enough and use me as an excuse to get the map back from you and keep you entangled in this mess even longer. You know they will." He paused, trying to get in control of his breathing as Meg looked on helplessly. "Please, leave and get away from here. You can come back for me later."

She looked at his wound and considered how long she would have to bring help back, if she would even have any time at all. The prediction wasn't good. She thought about moving him herself and just taking him along with her, but he could barely move, and her trying to carry him would only cause her to move a lot slower and make him bleed out even faster. She sighed unhappily. It seemed she had no choice.

She shook her head in denial of her thoughts. "But… I can't just leave you here alone to… to…"

"Megara! Just go!" He yelled at her, causing her to flinch. Jim looked away from her. She suspected Jim was trying to make her think he was angry at her so she would leave. Unfortunately, she saw the desperate look in his eyes that only made her want to stay. But she knew that he was trying to give her an opportunity out and that she was his last chance for survival, even if he didn't want her to be. She sighed and squeezed his hand one last time before letting go and standing up. She wiped her eyes dry with the back of her hand.

"Alright, Jim… I'll go. But I'll be right back for you, so please… just hold on for me that long, okay?"

He smiled at her and jokingly said, "I'll be right here."

She lightly chuckled and turned around.

She gasped in surprise as she saw Silver walking toward her flanked by a worried-looking Kale and three other men, effectively cutting off her only chance to escape. The cyborg pirate stopped about ten feet away and chuckled.

"You sure are somethin else, lad. Tellin' the lass to run off after ye had me crew promise to take her home safely if somethin happened to ye."

Meg glared at the approaching pirate, her hands balling up into fists. She wanted to just yell every obscenity she knew at the lying pirate, but she stopped when she heard Jim quietly whisper to her, "Don't." She glanced over her shoulder at him confused, but he had his eyes firmly glued on the pirates. She returned her attention to them.

"Can't really blame me for not trusting you." Jim gestured to his wound.

Meg glowered at the smiling pirate, becoming more infuriated by the second. There was no way she was going to let him or any of his men anywhere near Jim, not even Kale. "Leave us alone. We're not worth anything to you and you've done enough damage already. So back off."

Silver frowned. "Well now, lass. That's not a very nice way to treat someone who's tryin to help ye. As for the injury, I'm sorry Jimbo, some of me men, are a little… trigger-happy. " He glanced at Meg. "But no worries, lass, he has been _taken care of_."

Meg's eyebrow twitched as she studied the pirate's face. "What do you mean 'trying to help'? Why would we accept help from you?"

Silver smiled, sitting on a nearby rock. "Because lass, we may be the only chance to save your dear Jimbo there." He smiled at her lack of interruption. "We have a very skilled doctor on the ship, Sweet his name is. The man could be able to heal Jimbo, but he'll have to get back to the ship soon fer any hope of recovery." She glanced over at Kale, hoping he would give her a warning of deception. He gave her a small, affirming nod, causing her to exhale slightly as she focused back on Silver.

"And? What do you want in return?"

"Well, lass, you're little pink blob ran off with the map as soon as Jimbo was hurt. All we want is fer ye to get the map back for us."

"That's it?"

Silver nodded. She thought for a moment, looking back at Jim. Lately, it felt like she had been selling her soul left and right to make deals that went nowhere. But if one more deal could save Jim, then she had to make it and make it with as little loopholes as possible.

She looked back up at Silver. "All right, I'll get you the map. But if Jim d-" she choked on the word, but forced herself to continue, "If he dies, you will never find the map or me, so don't even try to bring the inn or Sarah into this."

Silver stared at her as she saw Kale sigh out of the corner of her eye. Meg disregarded it; she couldn't worry if he approved of her deals right now, she had to make them. She crossed her arms and leaned on a hip impatiently. "So, do we have a deal?"

Silver nodded, and motioned for his men to take Jim to the ship. She touched Kale's arm as he passed, whispering, "Please watch over him for me," smiling as he nodded and joined his men in picking up the boy.

She reflexively went to follow him as they passed by her a second time, but was stopped by Silver's robotic hand on her shoulder. "The map first, lass. Don't worry, Jimbo will still be there when you arrive."

She glared at him before taking a quick look back towards Jim. She really hoped that this latest deal wouldn't be in vain.

She followed Silver out of the cave and back toward the trees. He turned back toward her. "Alright lass. Here's where Jim fell and the pink thing made a break for it. We looked all around here, but couldn't find it. Yer turn. Where is it?"

_So they just shot him down, dragged him to a cave and dumped his body, thinking I wouldn't look for him. Probably come back to me later with some sad excuse as to why Jim's gone, give me the map, have me try to open it, and dispose of me the same way when I fail. _

She looked toward the forest and sighed.

_Well, I guess this situation is better than us both being dead. Time to get this over with. I wonder how rusty I am. _

She quickly exhaled and inhaled deeply, holding the breath. She let out a long, loud whistle that sounded very song-like before crossing her arms and leaning on a hip, looking over at Silver with a smirk.

The pirate raised an eyebrow curiously before his expression quickly changed into one of anger. "Lass! Stop playin' games! Ye want Jim dead or-" He stopped as the Morph appeared from underneath a nearby bush, staying close to cover in case he needed to flee again. "not?" Silver finished, looking in surprise at the blob. Meg knelt down and smiled, offering an open hand in his direction. Morph sped over to her, blubbering and talking nonsense to her. She pet him soothingly as she stood.

"Shh, it's okay Morph. Jim will be alright. It'll be okay." She glanced up at Silver as Morph rubbed her cheek affectionately.

Silver crossed his arms. "How in blazes did he hear you?"

Meg moved Morph from her face and let him rest by her shoulder where he happily buried himself in her hair. "When Jim and I first found Morph, we brought him with us wherever we went. We found that he got scared a lot and hid anywhere nearby that appeared safe. The first few incidents, it took us a long time to coax him out." She smiled, recalling the memory. "We found this trick by accident. When I was helping at the inn, I would whistle a song my mom taught me when I was little. Turns out he liked it a lot. So whenever he got scared, Jim or I would whistle that tune and Morph would come right to us. Never thought it'd come in handy for a situation like this."

"Cute," Silver responded, earning a glare from Meg. He continued, ignoring her, "So, where is the map?"

Meg narrowed her eyes at him before pulling Morph from her hair and cradling him in her hands. "Pirates are so impatient, huh?" She smiled as the pink creature laughed and rolled around in her hands. "Ok, Morph, remember the orb you gave me before?" He nodded. "Well I need you to get it for me again, okay?" Morph shook his head, pointing at Silver before transforming into a fallen Jim. She sighed unhappily. "I know, Morph. I don't like it either. But it's the only way we know Jim will be okay for sure. Just, please, go." She looked pleadingly at him. As if he understood her feelings, he nodded and disappeared back into the brush.

After about a minute, he returned with the copper globe in his mouth. He placed it in Meg's hand and moved over to her shoulder, taking up his normal resting position. Silver came up to her, going to take the orb. Morph growled protectively and she pulled it away from him.

"Not until I see Jim is away from death's door. That was the deal."

Silver sighed and smiled at her, moving toward the side. He gave her a mock bow and said, "After you, lass."

Meg looked angrily at him as she passed. She walked quickly through the field and forest and onto the boat. She looked around, unsure of where they were keeping him. She had yet to explore most of the ship and thus had no idea of any location but that of their "room." Fortunately for her, one of the nearby pirates noticed her confusion upon coming aboard and paused in securing the excess line to help.

"The lad is restin' up in yer room. Moved 'im there none too long ago."

She smiled at him. "Thank you." She looked at Morph. "Come on, let's go see Jim."

The little creature nodded excitedly, speeding ahead into the room. Meg followed him closely, but unlike Morph, she stopped at the doorway. She watched as their little pet hovered over him for a minute and then cuddled himself onto the pillow as close as he could to Jim's cheek. She sighed with relief as she saw Jim's chest slowly rise and fall with his breathing as he slept.

Meg heard footsteps slowly approach. She lifted the orb over her shoulder, holding it very lightly in her grip. After feeling a metal hand take it from her, she lightly said, "You kept your part of the deal, and I've kept mine." She walked into the room and pulled the nearby chair close to the bed. She went to take his hand, but before she did, she looked at her hands and noticed they were covered in blood; a stark contrast to Jim's newly cleaned ones. She went into a nearby room and washed them off before returning and finally taking his hand in her own once again. She felt him squeeze back lightly, but he did not awaken. She smiled sadly.

_He must be completely exhausted. I can't blame him. It's been an excruciatingly long day for the both of us, even though it can't have been longer than a few hours._

She looked over at Morph. He had already fallen asleep.

_It's been rough on all of us._

"Once Jim's well enough, we'll go back home. It will get better soon," she whispered, partially to the two in front of her, but mostly to reassure herself.

She looked up to see Kale motioning to her. She took her free hand and put a finger to her lips. He nodded and waited as she slid her hand out of Jim's grip and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Morph woke up and looked at her curiously.

She smiled and whispered to him, "Stay here, Morph, and watch over Jim. I'll be right back."

He nodded hesitantly, but went right back to sleep despite his concerns.

Meg tiptoed out of the room and walked up to Kale, silently closing the door behind her so the two could talk without having to worry about waking up Jim.

Kale looked at the closed door for a minute before saying, "The captain would like to see you right away."

She furrowed her eyebrows. Regardless of her agitation, she tried to remain calm. After all, Kale was only the messenger. "Now? I just got back and just saw Jim. What could possibly be so urgent in the middle of nowhere?"

Kale sighed. "I'm sorry, Meg. But that's the message I was to deliver. He said if you didn't come now, he'd come get you himself and probably wake up Jim as a result."

She released a frustrated sigh and gestured for him to lead the way. "Fine, but Silver owes me."

Kale glanced at her with a confused look as he opened the door to the deck. "Meg, Silver's not the captain. He's more of the figurehead."

"What? Then who is?"

They walked up to the door by the stairs, Kale stopping and turning to her, looking unnecessarily apologetic.

"You know who he is."

Her eyes widened in realization before she shut them tight and started rubbing her temples. "Please tell me it's not him, that it's anyone but him." If it _was_ that man, this was going to be a headache.

"It is. And he's been looking for you for some time."

"Fantastic."

She sighed and crossed her arms. "Let's just get this over with. The faster I get his head straight, the faster I can go home with Jim."

Kale looked at her warily. "Just, be careful. You know what he's capable of. And remember, you and Jim are still prisoners on his ship."

She glanced at him. "I know the risks. I can handle this." She paused, getting her thoughts together. "Okay, I'm ready."

Kale nodded and opened the door, motioning her inside.

"Captain, she's here."

"Thanks, Kale. You can return to your post now."


	8. Chapter 8: Talk is Cheap

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this and making it make sense as well as my readers for sticking with me this long. **

**A/n: Alright readers, we're on the final stretch. Only a little more to go! **

Chapter 8: Talk is Cheap

Kale ushered her into the room and shut the door behind her, giving Megara and his captain some privacy.

Meg crossed her arms and leaned on a hip, waiting for him to say something. He's the one that wanted to see her, so if he wanted to speak with her, he'd have to start the conversation. She looked around the room while she waited. He certainly had some interesting treasures. For instance, he had a skeleton of some mythical-looking creature surrounded by numerous jewels, both likely from all around the world. She continued looking around the room at the less exotic treasures, unaware that the captain had risen from his bed at the back of the room and walked toward her.

"Megara, it's been far too long."

She gave him a quick look up and down. He had those same black boots that looked three sizes too big, the same ridiculous red pants, the same black shirt that showed off his muscular physique, and the same dark facial hair and mischievous eyes as he had when she first met him. It didn't seem as if he changed at all.

She smiled, acting as sweetly as possible even though her thoughts concerning him were anything but. "Has it? I hadn't really noticed; I've been pretty busy lately." She looked toward the desk as a piece of bright blue fabric caught her eye. She walked over and smiled, hooking it on a finger and presenting the skimpy cloth to the man. "And it looks like you've been rather busy yourself, Sinbad."

His eyes widened and he snatched it from her, tossing it behind him. "You've got the wrong idea. It's just worth a good chunk of change, nothing else."

"Uh-huh." Meg smirked. He hadn't changed at all. "That reminds me, how _is_ Aurora doing?" She sauntered away from him and closer to the door, turning back toward him when she was had created a comfortable enough gap.

Sinbad's mouth opened and shut as he processed what she said. He cleared his throat and attempted to restart. "Meg, Aurora was a mistake I never should have let happen."

Her smirk faded and she glared at him, crossing her arms again.

"It didn't look that way to me when I caught you _in bed_ together. And it sure looked like you encouraged it more than tried to prevent it."

"Well, it was a mistake! You didn't give me the chance to explain. I tried to find you after giving you some time to cool off, but-"

"I was already gone?" Meg interrupted. "Sinbad, I waited for a week for you to come by and 'explain' before deciding to leave. You had plenty of chances that week, but no, you avoided me. I thought you were better than that, but you proved me wrong."

"Meg, that was a huge mistake. I didn't know what to do, and by the time I did, you were gone. I've been looking for you since to try and make it right."

She raised an eyebrow. "You've been looking for me this past year?"

"Yes."

She chuckled and he seemed to relax a little. That is, until her violet eyes caught him in their piercing gaze, at which he immediately stiffened.

"Right. You sure took your time, as I can see by the numerous distractions," she gestured to the room, "that you accumulated while so _heroically_ trying to find me and set things right. Don't try to pretend that you were out here looking for me; I'm just a bonus prize to you, that's all I have ever been."

"That's not true! I was looking for you, but I have a crew and a ship to keep maintained and I can't exactly do that if I'm not out doing my job as a pirate. So I'm sorry you got pushed to the back for a while, but I swear that you are still just as important to me as you were then." He desperately tried to explain, moving toward her to close the gap between them. But for every step he took toward her, she took another one back.

She glared at him. "So not at all then? Sinbad, you told me that, despite our marriage being arranged, you wanted to give me the opportunity of having a real relationship and asked me to be your girlfriend. I thought it was a nice gesture and stupidly agreed. Then, not two months later, I catch you with Aurora. What did you expect me to think?" She took a few more steps back and found herself against the wall, not five feet away from the door. She glanced back, but quickly returned her attention to Sinbad, who was now only a foot away from her. She continued angrily. "You broke my heart, and now, once I finally think I've escaped my family and you, you try to do it again by almost killing my boyfriend. So excuse me if I don't exactly return the sentiment." She looked away from him; he had distressed her so much, that just looking at him aggravated her more and set her closer to going off again. She refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he could still make her this upset, even with the year gap between their last interactions.

She felt him walk up to her, compressing her comfortable cushion of air down to a mere few inches. She had the urge to leave, but she had a feeling he would follow right behind and cause a scene on deck, something he would doubtlessly use against her and Jim later. She held as still as she could, waiting to calm down enough so she could try talking herself out of this situation.

He gently pulled her chin with her forefinger, forcing her to look back at him.

"Meg, I really am sorry. I never meant to hurt you, I just didn't . . . "

"Think?" She finished sarcastically.

He laughed lightly and nodded. "Yeah, I'm not too good at that sometimes."

She smiled lightly. "No you're not." She attempted to move away from him, but between the hand still holding her chin and the other pressed against the wall near her face, she had no way out, even though the door was practically within arm's reach. She put a hand on his chest and lightly tried to push him backward, hoping he would get the idea. "Sinbad," she began lightly, looking up at him, "think before you do something-" she was interrupted by his lips on hers in a very desperate kiss.

She tried to push him off of her, but he was too heavy to move. He seemed convinced that she was just fighting her 'feelings' for him, and that maybe a good kiss was all that was needed to make her give in and return to him. He just wasn't getting the idea that Meg wanted nothing to do with him. She exhaled lightly. There was only one way to get him to listen.

She clenched her fist and threw a punch straight to his jaw, forcing him to pull away from her. Sinbad held his newly reddened cheek, giving her a mixed look of confusion and sadness. She wiped her mouth as angry tears began to blur her vision.

"Damn it, Sinbad! Do you have to be so oblivious? I came to talk to you because you gave me no choice, but also because I felt that maybe I should give you a chance to explain so we could at least end on good terms. But no, you had to go be stupid and do that!" She stopped yelling for a moment as she backed toward the door in response to his approach. "Don't you dare touch me ever again!" She screamed at him, too frustrated to care if the crew heard. She hadn't been this upset at anything since the last time he did something equally as thoughtless.

"Meg, I thought-"

"No, you didn't! You never do! You only care about yourself and your ship."

She angrily marched to the door, reaching for the doorknob.

Just as she grabbed the doorknob to leave, he quietly said, "He doesn't know, does he?" causing her to hesitate and drop her hand to her side. She knew he said it in a desperate attempt to keep her from leaving, but she took a few deep breaths and turned around anyway. She answered him quietly. "He doesn't need to know and, unlike you, he doesn't put much value in my past." She glared and pointed at him. "And don't you dare try to get between us by bringing that stuff up. I'll tell him everything he wants to know when he asks."

He seemed to disregard her seriousness as he crossed his arms and smiled, teasingly telling her, "You lied to him, didn't you?" He continued, his smile widening as her eyes did the same. "You told him your parents disowned you and dumped you in that tiny apartment, forcing you to fend for yourself."

"H-how did you-"

"Find out?" He grinned, obviously proud that the tables had turned in his favor. "I've had a few long talks with Jim. So has Silver. He gives away a lot if you ask the right questions."

Meg folded her arms, attempting to portray a façade of impartiality. "So you have dirt on me. What are you going to do with it?" He had a huge amount of blackmail. And he knew it; she had to figure out how to keep him from using it. Acting like she didn't care that he had it was the only plan she could think of.

He pretended to look appalled. "Do with it? I would never tell him anything about _your _past. That's up to you." He smiled mischievously at her. "Although I can't guarantee something won't slip. After all, I don't think very often."

She glared at him. "What do you want, Sinbad?"

"You back."

"You mean me, and everything that would come with you marrying me."

"Maybe."

Meg rolled her eyes and turned back to the door. "Not happening. I'm not going back there for as long as I can help it."

"What if he leaves you?"

"Because of my past?" She glanced back at him as he nodded, a hopeful gleam in his eye. "Then he's not the man I fell in love with. And I'll move on again." She looked back to the door. "And I guess I'll keep repeating the cycle as long as I am cursed to. I'm only going back there or back with you if I'm dragged back. This trip is about the treasure, not me. Let's keep it at that." She walked out the door, wiping away the few tears that managed to leave her eyes. She thought she heard him say "Not if I can help it," but she disregarded it. She was too worn out to deal with him any longer.

She shut the door firmly behind her, leaning against it and closing her eyes for a moment to get her thoughts together. She had to be very careful where she tread, any misstep could completely ruin everything. She sighed and walked through the small hall, going to open the second door that lead to the deck, until she realized something was off about the walkway. She stopped and looked back behind her, her heart skipping a beat when she realized that it was Jim leaning against the wall, looking at her with much brighter grey-blue eyes.

"Jim! What are you doing wandering around? You need to be in bed." She walked up to him, offering him a hand. He just stared at her hand. She looked confused. "Jim?"

He looked up at her. "You were in a relationship with him?"

She dropped her hand and looked down. "So you heard that."

He nodded. "Yeah, and a little more. I didn't understand most of it though." He moved closer to her, careful not to move too quickly and pull his stitches. "I was hoping you would tell me." He lifted her chin up lovingly, but his eyes glazed with concern when he noticed her eyes were still slightly puffed and red from the tears that she had shed. "Megara? What happened?" He glanced behind him. "What did he do to you?" She flinched, partially at the way he put the question, and partially because of the look in his eyes. It suggested that he planned on _politely_ questioning Sinbad. She wanted them nowhere near one another. Her eyes widened and she tightly grabbed the hand under her chin with both of hers.

"Jim, stop. H- he didn't do anything. We just talked. Now," she smiled, "why don't you let me take you back to the room," she removed one of her hands from his and used a finger to point his attention back to her, "and we can just talk. I'll tell you anything you want to know. No more secrets. Sound good?" She smiled wider when he smiled back and nodded at her.

He grabbed her hand and led her back toward the deck and the room. She took one last glance at the door before leaving with Jim.


	9. Chapter 9: I Swear It's True

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this.**

**And a huge thank you to my readers for, well, reading this. It seriously makes my day to see that people are reading what I write. **

**A/n: Alright readers, we're on the final stretch. Only a little more to go! **

Chapter 9: I Swear It's True

"So, let me get this straight. You and Sinbad were betrothed. He thought it would be a good idea for you to get the 'real experience' of dating and asked you to go out with him-even though it wouldn't matter at all in the end. Thinking it's harmless, you agree, go out for a while, and find him cheating on you. You're hurt and angry, but decide, because of your parents, to wait a week and see what happens. He avoids you, so you take initiative and leave home, abandoning him, your home, and family for a new life in Montressor."

Meg nodded, her eyes focused on her feet. The two were back in the privacy of their room. Jim was reclining in the bed and she was sitting in the adjacent chair. She had explained most of her pre-Jim life; he was taking it rather well considering the position it put them in. She sighed and leaned her elbow on the armrest and her chin on a loose fist, closing her eyes. "And now after a year he shows up and wants me back, acting like nothing happened."

Jim looked at her. "So what did you tell him?"

She opened her eyes, studying the curiosity on his face. "Well he doesn't understand the word 'no'." She grinned. "So I had to punch him to get it through his thick skull."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You punched him because he didn't understand 'no'?"

She sighed heavily. She really didn't want to tell him this, but it would be worse if he heard it from Sinbad instead of her. "I… I punched him because… because he kissed me. We were talking—well, more like I was yelling at him—and he backed me up against the wall and kissed me. I had to punch him to get him off."

She watched as Jim's fists gripped the bed sheets tightly. "I should-"

"No, you shouldn't." She put a hand lightly over his and smiled when he released the sheets from his grasp. "I'm not a damsel in distress. Besides, you are in no condition to pick a fight with him. I can take care of myself."

He frowned and nodded. She decided it was time to change the subject.

"Any other questions?"

He glanced up at her before shifting his attention toward the ceiling as he thought. After some time, he returned his attention to her, having something in mind.

"Yeah, just one. Couldn't you have told your parents what he did and break off the engagement that way? Not that I'm complaining about you moving to Montressor—but wouldn't that have, at least, let you keep your belongings?"

Her eyes tinted with pain. "I did try to tell them. They weren't exactly sympathetic. My father said that it didn't matter what Sinbad did; my job was to support him regardless. Even if that meant I had to turn a blind eye to his _activities_. He said that he wasn't going to let his daughter ruin the business relationship that our families had spent generations building and strengthening—just because she got her feelings hurt. He threatened that he would take extreme measures if I even tried."

"Who does he think he is?"

"The king of the underworld." She replied without thinking. She froze and looked up at Jim, hoping for him to brush it off as a joke or just think it was her usual sarcastic way of describing people. Instead, Jim gave her a very confused look. She looked back down at her lap and shrugged, attempting to play it off like she said nothing important. Apparently her façade worked, as Jim just shook his head and sighed angrily.

"Doesn't matter who or what he is. To take away his child's freedom is wrong."

They sat there silently for a few minutes, not looking at one another.

Meg was too afraid to talk to or even look at him. She thought she was already walking a thin enough line; any slip of information of the dirtier side of her past could send Jim running- a threat she was desperately trying to avoid.

Jim, on the other hand, couldn't figure out what and what not to ask. He was curious about her past; any information that could help either of them handle Sinbad, or future issues in general. But he wasn't desperate enough for the advantage to risk upsetting her more or driving her away. It just wasn't worth it.

He glanced up at her and noticed how distressed she already was; whatever Sinbad said to her had really gotten under her skin. Her entire body was trembling slightly and her violet eyes were coated with fear. Jim knew it had to be a serious, viable threat for her to be this upset. It didn't really matter; as her boyfriend and the man who loved her, it was his job to take that terror out of her eyes and get rid of the cause of it, no matter what danger it brought to him.

He took a deep breath before breaking the silence. "So that's why you told me they disowned you. Because they basically did. You had to run, or be forced to be with a man you hated."

She nodded, but didn't remove her eyes from her lap. "I'm sorry for lying to you. I just, I didn't know how to tell you. It never seemed like the right time." Her eyes began to fill with tears.

Instead of responding, he leaned toward her and gently placed his hand on top of one of hers. When she didn't react, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the bed next to him, lightly chuckling when she released a small noise of surprise. He smiled as she finally looked at him.

"You didn't lie, not exactly. You just didn't tell me things about your past that you thought didn't matter, which they really don't. I'm not going to ask you about every dirty secret about your past, just like you don't about mine. And it's fine that way. It's worked for us, so why change it?" At this he paused to wipe away a few of the tears that left her eyes to make room for the hope and happiness that now shone within them. He looked at her seriously. "But if it's ever starts eating away at you like it is now, don't keep it from me. I love you because of who you are now, not who you were then. Okay?"

She smiled and nodded at him before throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She breathed out a small sigh of relief when she felt him hug her back. After a few minutes and successfully calming herself down, Megara reluctantly pulled away.

"We both need some sleep. It's been a long day and I have a feeling it will be a lot longer tomorrow." Meg rose and, taking one of the blankets off the bed, wrapped herself up and moved back into the chair. After making herself as comfortable as possible, she rested her feet on the bed to make herself a makeshift recliner.

Jim looked confused. "You're not going to sleep in the same bed as me tonight?"

She smiled. "You need your rest and you know I'm a very restless sleeper. I don't want to hit your wound or anything because I can't hold still." When she saw him pouting, she sighed lightly and smiled. "Listen, I'll stay with you tomorrow, okay? That way you'll have at least some time to heal before I try to hurt you again."

He chuckled and nodded happily, telling her goodnight and mumbling "I love you" before falling fast asleep. She looked at him lovingly for a few minutes, watching his chest slowly rise and fall with his breathing.

Right before falling asleep herself, she whispered, "I love you too, more than you could ever know."

~~~ Later That Night ~~~

Meg woke up and glanced out the window so she could guess what time it was. It looked like the sun was just about to peak over the ocean, leaving the sky's color as a dark mixture of reds and purples. She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember that old line about the sky while at sea, but shrugged it off as irrelevant when she couldn't remember. She looked past her feet at Jim to check if he was still sleeping, but found his bed void of both her boyfriend and Morph.

She shook her head disapprovingly. _Out of bed already? His wounds haven't even started to heal yet. He just can't behave, can he?_

She got out of the chair and stretched. She didn't think that sleeping there would have made her as sore as it did. She shrugged it off; at least with the promise she made to Jim, she could sleep in the more comfortable bed tonight. After fixing her dress and pulling her hair into a quick ponytail, she went to the door and opened it, anxious to find Jim and convince him to rest in bed for at least one more day.

To her surprise, Kale stood in front of the door, clearly upset.

"Kale? What's wrong? What is it?"

He looked at her sadly. "Meg, it's Jim, he's-" he stopped and looked toward the deck as they heard a large thud.

Her heart dropped. She ran past Kale and onto the deck, ignoring the calls he made to persuade her to stop. She pushed the door open and stopped suddenly, her eyes widening in shock as she processed the scene in front of her. She began to shake with fear as she realized that the man that stood in front of her was none other than her father, the infamous lord of the underworld.

She clenched her fists and forced herself to stand taller; trying to convey that she was neither afraid nor surprised that he was standing in front of her, but instead like she was expecting him to show up.

She flinched slightly when her father suddenly raised his arms and gave her an innocent smile, as if he anticipated her to approach and embrace him like it was a normal father-daughter reunion. So when she slightly withdrew and eyed him warily instead, his smile wavered and he dropped his arms, quickly replacing the smile with a less sincere grin, but one still meant to reassure his daughter and abate her quickly growing fear and nervousness. Meg knew better.

He broke the awkward silence. "Megara, my dear daughter, it's such been a long time since I've seen you. You've grown."

She bit her tongue as she tried to control herself. She couldn't address her father as harshly as she did Sinbad; that would be extremely dangerous. She knew that she had to be careful, for both her and Jim's sake.

"It's only been a year, father." She put her hands behind her, gripping them tightly to try and focus on something other than her fear.

He let out a small laugh before crossing his arms and nodding. "Yes, but for only a year, you have sure grown a lot." When she looked at him curiously, he explained. "Even though you have been a long way from home, I've still heard about your accomplishments. You've sure kept yourself busy. Between trying to hide from me, building a life of your own, and getting your own job, I'm surprised you had the time to find a 'boyfriend.'"

Her eyes widened. "How- how did you know about all of that?"

He looked at her almost apologetically. "Sweetheart, you didn't really believe you escaped me and your future, did you?"

She lightly bit her lip and took a few deep breaths. She wasn't going to let him taunt her into reacting and giving him an excuse to force her to go back home.

He shook his head. "No, I've always had someone watching you, making sure you weren't getting into too much trouble. Didn't you ever notice those few repeat customers who always left you a nice tip, even if you messed up? Or the few neighbors at your apartment complex that always seemed especially kind and helpful? Not a very good choice of a place if I may say so. With all of the money you were saving up, you easily could have had yourself something better by now. I wonder why you would do such a counterintuitive thing."

He paused as he thought for a moment, and then smiled as he seemed to realize the reason. "You didn't move someplace better because that would require you to leave the boy and the 'happy ending' you both seem to have planned out. Very childish of you Megara, to still believe in fairy tale endings."

Meg glared at him, tightly gripping her hands. "I should have known you'd come and interfere eventually. You're right; I was naïve for believing that I could just run away. But just because you found me doesn't mean I'll go back home with you. In fact, I have no intention of ever going back; I'm perfectly happy where I am, even if it's not a life of riches and luxury."

Her father sighed depressedly. Meg couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not. "Meg, my sweet, I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. You know, I wouldn't have had a problem with you living on your own for a while if you had asked. It would be good for you, help you clear your head and get a grip of what the world was like outside the mansion." At her shocked look, he shrugged before continuing. "Granted, I would still have people watching you and making sure you didn't make foolish choices. Eventually, when you were ready, I would bring you back home to marry Sinbad so that the company could continue functioning the same prosperous way it always has."

He sighed sadly as she continued to glare at him. "But you had to make a thoughtless choice and find some poor boy and try to bring him into a family he could never belong in. You forced him into this situation. And now, as your father, I have to fix the mess you've created." And, as quickly as a flash of light, there was no longer any sign of the friendly father he attempted to portray before; it was all replaced with the merciless, harsh demeanor of the lord of the underworld that had haunted Meg's nightmares and thoughts for as long as she could remember.

"I told you there would be extreme consequences if you put the business in danger."

Her father moved to the side, allowing her to finally grasp how serious his threat was. Jim was seated on the railing, gagged and bound to a heavy weight sitting near his feet. He flinched as her father came toward him and firmly laid a hand on his shoulder. Jim tried to rebalance himself on the banister so he wouldn't fall over the edge and into the ocean below, looking up at her with scared eyes when he felt stable.

Meg cried out "Jim!" before running toward him, hoping that she could stop this before it spiraled out of control. But before she took two steps, she heard her father call out to Sinbad and felt two strong arms grab her and force her to a halt, shoving her arms tightly to her sides.

She struggled against Sinbad's grip, desperately trying to pull away, but when it was of no avail, she stopped moving completely, instead only looking pleadingly at her father.

"Father, please reconsider! If you let him go, I swear I'll never disobey you again. I'll do whatever you want. Just please, let Jim go."

He just silently stared at her for a minute. She hoped he was considering her offer; even if she couldn't have the life she wanted, at least Jim would still be able to keep his. Her father sighed, and her heart surged with hope.

"I'm sorry, Megara. I just can't take the chance of you running off again. Remember this in the future when you consider disobeying."

Meg felt as though her heart dropped her into her stomach. She screamed for him to stop, begging for her father to leave Jim alone. She cried and pleaded even more desperately as he turned from her to Jim. He quietly told him, "I'm sorry son, you chose the wrong girl to fall in love with," before shoving both Jim and the weight over the edge and into the dark ocean.

She struggled as hard as she could against Sinbad's grasp, imploring for him to let her go. She pulled and twisted to try and escape, all to no avail. She thought it was hopeless, until she remembered one of the moves Jim had taught her in case she was ever harassed by someone on her way home. She pulled as far away from Sinbad as she could before using her weight to move backwards and shove her elbow deep into his stomach, causing him to release her as he doubled over and began coughing loudly.

Meg ran as quickly as she could to where Jim used to be, diving over the banister and into the water. She heard her father yell out "no!" as his hands just barely missed grabbing her.

She hit the water hard, but kept swimming down into the water despite the small amount of pain caused by the contact. She was too focused on getting to Jim before he drowned. She swam deeper and deeper into the darkness, looking all around her for Jim. Within a few seconds, she spotted him, slowly sinking further into the depths. She forced herself to swim a little bit faster and reached for him, smiling to herself as she grabbed his hand. But her smile quickly faded as she realized that, not only was she unable to pull him up, but that Jim was dragging her down with him. His limp mass plus that of the weight attached to his ankles made it impossible for her to pull him up and save him.

_Come on, Jim. Wake up! Please, don't give up on me, please!_

She kept swimming as hard as she could, but she was still unable to get the both of them any closer to the surface. Her lungs were quickly beginning to burn as they ran out of oxygen, screaming at her to let him go and swim for the surface to save herself. But Meg refused to let him go; she wasn't going to quit trying as long as there was some chance of saving him.

_I can't leave him, I can't. But, I… I can't last much longer. We're… we're both going to die here… and… I think I'm okay with that. At least . . . at least we'll die together. _

She struggled a little bit longer before the breath in her lungs finally ran out. Everything went black.


	10. Chapter 10: I Swore I'd Never Fall Apart

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this.**

**And a huge thank you to my readers for staying with me this long. **

Chapter 10: I Swore I'd Never Fall Apart

Meg jolted up in her chair, gasping for air. As she looked around, her breathing began to slow back to normal as she realized she was still in her and Jim's room on Sinbad's ship. She had imagined the scene that distressed her so; it was only a dream. Despite this, her breath caught as her thoughts quickly transferred to Jim, still afraid that her dreams were more than just her imagination running on overdrive.

To her relief, Jim was fast asleep in the bed, his chest slowly rising and falling with each deep breath. She sighed, slowly and carefully pulling her feet off of the bed so that she wouldn't wake him. Meg placed her elbows on her knees and cradled her head in her hands, attempting to clear her mind so she could fall back asleep for at least a couple more hours.

It wasn't working. All she could think about was Jim's face as her father pushed him overboard; the look of fear and hurt that coated his eyes. She couldn't help but believe that the look wasn't because of her father's actions, but because of her own selfish ones.

Part of her tried to argue that the dream was only showing her fears, making her fully aware of them so that they couldn't be used against her. She knew very well that her father wasn't _that_ ruthless; he wouldn't kill an innocent just because they dated his daughter. His earlier threats were just him acting as an overprotective father. She was just being absurd.

But the other part of her was much louder; it called her naïve and foolish. She should know that she wouldn't be able to stay with Jim forever. Fighting to stay with him was only hurting the both of them as she tried to escape her inevitable future. Her father had nothing to do with it; it was her subconscious' way of warning her that no matter what she did, she would lose Jim-it just sent the message in the only way she would listen.

After a few minutes of sinking into such thoughts, she felt something rub against her cheek, causing her to jump and throw out that which pained her so. She looked up and saw Morph looking at her, his little eyes filled with concern. She smiled and whispered, "Did I wake you?"

When he nodded, she lightly pat his head and continued. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," she glanced at the door and back to Morph, "I'm going outside to get some fresh air. Stay here and watch Jim, ok? Come get me when he wakes up. Try to keep him in bed, please, he shouldn't be moving yet."

Morph nodded and returned to his resting spot near Jim's head, making Meg smile a little wider. She rose from the chair and snuck out of the room, waiting until she reached the hall before stretching out the sore spots caused by sleeping in the chair. When she finished, she tied her hair up and walked out the nearby door.

The cool sea breeze caressed her senses as she stepped onto deck, immediately putting a small smile on her face. She walked over to the nearby banister and leaned on it, looking away from the ship and island and toward the endless sea.

The sun had just begun to shine over the water, mixing purples into the blue sky and yellows into the clear water. The waves gently rolled over one another, making a rhythmic crash every minute or so. It was all so peaceful and slowly helping Meg clear her mind.

_See, this is nothing like that dream. You were just overreacting. Everything's fine._

She sighed. _A few more minutes of standing out here and I just might be able to go back to bed._ She heard someone walk up beside her and saw a man in the corner of her eye. After a few seconds of trying to distinguish who they were without turning toward them, she groaned. It was Sinbad.

_Well, there goes that plan._

"You must've had a rough night. You only stare at the ocean like this when you're either really mad, or really upset. Want to talk about it?"

She didn't even bother looking at him. "What do you care?"

"Hey, I've always worried about you. I just have a problem showing it."

She glared at him, sarcastically replying "_right_," before returning her attention to the water.

"So you won't tell me what's bugging you?"

Meg stayed silent, focusing only on the ocean in the hopes that he would get the idea and leave her alone. Instead, he just sighed and continued standing there, remaining within her line of sight. Neither of them said a word, the silence only interrupted by the lapping of the waves. After only a few minutes, Sinbad broke the peaceful sound of the ocean.

"You know that I never plan on letting you go, no matter how determined you are to fight me. You know I will win eventually, right? "

She sighed angrily and rolled her eyes. _Gods, he's hardheaded and cocky. He just doesn't give up._

"Sinbad, you're an –"

She was interrupted by his lips on hers. She pulled away from him, but not quickly enough to completely escape. He grabbed both of her wrists, moving to hold them with one hand as she struggled against him and cursed herself for being so skinny and weak. She ordered him to stop and let her go, but he just pulled her closer and put his other hand on the back of her neck, making her further incapable of getting away from him. He kissed her again, smiling against her lips more and more as she unsuccessfully tried to struggle. She shut her eyes tightly as tears began to run down her cheeks.

_Damn it, I can't get away from him. He's not going to let me go, not until I give up. Damn him._

Just as she was about to give Sinbad what he wanted just so that he would let go of her, she felt him suddenly pull away. She opened her eyes and saw that someone had him by the collar and had fiercely jerked him away from her. They threw him away, causing Sinbad to stumble back and loosen his grip. It was just enough for her to completely pull out of his grasp and get away from him. It took the time between her escape and her savior punching Sinbad for her to realize who they were. The man placed himself between her and the pirate.

She smiled as Jim looked back at her and asked "You ok, Meg?"

She nodded and wiped her mouth and eyes, "Yeah. How'd you know I was out here?"

He smiled. "I heard you wake up. I always get up when you do, no matter how quiet you try to be. I just wasn't sure if you needed me or not, so I figured I'd give you a few minutes before checking up on you. It's a good thing I did."

She looked over Jim's shoulder and saw Sinbad get up and rub his reddened cheek. He glared at the two of them before saying, "Now I know where Meg learned to punch," the sarcasm dripping from his words.

She saw Jim's eyes coat with anger as he spun around quickly, keeping himself between her and Sinbad.

"Don't ever touch her again. Don't you get that she wants nothing to do with you?"

Sinbad smiled. "Don't _you_ get that she doesn't have a choice?" He shifted his attention to Meg, causing her to grip Jim's arm. "This is quite a predicament you've dragged him into, Meg. Doesn't he know that I could have him killed for touching me, let alone trying to keep you from completing your responsibilities?"

Meg's eyes widened with panic. She mouthed the word "don't" to him, frowning when he just smiled back at her and shook his head lightly.

Jim continued to look angrily at him, but with hints of confusion mixed into his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Sinbad smirked. "Judging by that look, I'd say Meg didn't tell you anything about her past. Well, anything important. Why don't you ask your girlfriend who I am? Better yet, ask her who she is and where she comes from."

Meg looked at Jim with a mixed expression of worry and fear. He glanced back at her for a split second before returning his attention to Sinbad. "I know who she is, and why would that even matter?"

Sinbad crossed his arms and leaned against the railing, seemingly amused. "Oh, really? Then who is she?"

"She told me she's the lord of the underworld's daughter."

"And you believe her?"

Meg winced and glanced at her boyfriend, afraid of what he was going to say. Jim crossed his arms, moving his hand to rest on top of hers. "Doesn't matter if I do or not. But if that's what she wants me to think, then damn right, I believe her." She smiled and let out a little breath of relief.

_So it really doesn't matter to him. I'm… surprised..._

Sinbad pulled her out of her thoughts as he tried taunting Jim. "Is that your way of saying you really don't know?"

"No, it's my way of saying I really don't care."

Sinbad laughed as he pushed himself off the banister and walked a few steps closer to the couple. Meg felt Jim slightly tense as Sinbad spoke. "See, in any other situation, I'd agree with you. It wouldn't be a big deal. But here, it does matter _because_ of who her father is, since he's-"

"Stop," Meg interrupted, causing both men to look at her with surprise. She looked at Sinbad, shaking her head. "Just stop, Sinbad. I'll tell him. That's what you want, right?" Meg dropped her hand from Jim's arm as she looked down and took a deep breath, trying to get her thoughts in some sort of order before glancing back up at her boyfriend.

"I should have told you this before. Do you remember when I told you yesterday that my father was the lord of the underworld and you just looked at me funny?" She waited until he nodded before sighing and continuing. "I really didn't mean to tell you that, it just kind of slipped out. I meant to brush it off as a really, really bad joke. But, unfortunately, it's true. I'm the daughter of one of the most notorious and infamous men in the world."

Jim stared at her for a second, a mixture of confusion and disbelief crossing his face. "Really?"

Meg nodded and stared at her feet. She heard him sigh and her shoulders drooped. _It's finally happening. He's found out, and now he's going to leave. Like any normal person would._

"Was everything else you told me about your past true, or did you make that up?"

She glanced up; surprised that he was still talking to her. But, her hopes didn't rise; he was probably just trying to figure out how much of the relationship was a lie so he could feel more justified when he left. She shook her head and looked back down; she didn't want to watch him walk away. "I didn't make anything up. Everything I told you about my past was true. I just kept out anything that would hint at my family's history or my familial ties."

"Because you thought it'd chase me off?"

Meg nodded. "I didn't want to lose the one thing that was actually good about my life. One of the few things that I actually earned on my own."

"And now you think you have because you told me?"

She nodded again and heard him sigh once more. Meg was beginning to get nervous. She had always prepared herself for him being mad or upset when she eventually told him, but the silence between them was killing her more than either reaction ever could.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence to her, Meg felt Jim pull her into a very tight embrace. She looked up at him, her violet eyes filled with surprise and confusion.

He smiled very lovingly at her and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "You really think I'd leave you over this? Is your faith in me that low?"

"No, but there are some things that love can't ignore. Or would be stupid to ignore."

"Well, this isn't one of them." When she tried to argue, he shook his head. "I told you, I don't care about who you were in the past or where you come from. I love you for who you are now."

Meg's eyes widened slightly before she sighed and smiled, a few tears of relief sliding down her cheek. Jim gently wiped them away before kissing her very deeply and passionately.

"Are you _serious_?"

The two separated. Jim pulled Meg closer to him as she gripped his shirt tightly, both of them warily watching Sinbad. She flinched as he pointed at her, causing Jim to hold her even tighter.

"No matter how much you two try to deny it, she lied to you! Everything about her is a lie! And you're going to ignore all of that? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be with or around her just _because_ of who she is? She will get you killed!"

"Like I told her, I don't care about any of that. I love her, and I'm not going to leave her just because other people want me to or it's too 'dangerous' to be in love with her. It's not happening."

Sinbad scratched his head. "Fine, I didn't want to have to do this, but you give me no other choice. I hoped that whenever I did find you that I could talk you into coming back and taking your proper place at home. But it looks like that as long as you two are together, that you'll never do it." He sighed and reached behind his back. "If this is the only way for you to come home, then so be it."

He pulled out the gun from his waistband and aimed it at Jim. Meg's eyes widened as she pulled away from Jim just enough to turn around in his arms. She quickly covered his body with her own, getting rid of any clear fatal shots Sinbad could make. Meg knew Sinbad wasn't that good of a shot and just needed to stay in his way enough that he wouldn't dare try to shoot.

Apparently her guess was correct, as Sinbad lowered the gun enough so he wouldn't hurt her if the gun accidentally discharged. "Meg, move aside. This has to happen, for everyone's benefit - including yours."

She glared at him. "_My_ benefit? You really think that killing the man I love and forcing me to live the rest of my days as a depressed puppet with you is for _my _benefit? I don't think so."

"Megara!"

"No! I'm not moving. You'll have to shoot me first if you want even the opportunity to fire at him." His eyes widened and she slightly smiled, knowing she just came upon a key point. "And you know as well as I do that you can't seeing as my father doesn't like his possessions even touched." She tilted her head to the side, smiling a bit wider as Sinbad's frown deepened. "I wonder how well he'd take it if he found out that his future son-in-law shot his only daughter, even if it was the only way to force her back home."

Sinbad growled at her before putting the gun back in his waistband. "Well, this puts us in quite a predicament, Meg. I want him out of the picture, and you never want him to leave it. What do you suggest to fix it?"

Meg bit her lip as she thought for a minute, standing taller when she had something. "Well, this trip was about finding hidden treasure. So, I propose that, in exchange for his life, a safe trip home, and you and your crew leaving the both of alone for as long as we live, you can have all of the treasure that this map leads to. You know as well as I do that if this treasure is as big as its rumored to be, it'll more than pay for all of that."

Sinbad was silent for a moment as he thought, nodding. "And if the treasure isn't there?"

Meg looked down on the ground, searching through her thoughts for something. She sighed and looked back at Jim. "Sorry," she whispered to him before turning back to Sinbad and unlatching Jim's arms from around her waist. She took a few small steps toward him.

"If the treasure isn't there, then I will go back with you instead of home with Jim. Jim will still get a safe ride home and will be left alone for as long as he lives."

Sinbad raised an eyebrow curiously. "Yeah? And how does that pay my men?"

Meg crossed her arms and sighed. "Think, Sinbad. My father probably is offering a huge reward for my return, am I right?"

"It's not public knowledge, but yes, he is."

"Then all you need to do is have a few of your men who he thinks aren't very loyal take me to him. He'll think that they'll just keep the money for themselves and thus give them the ransom money. Your men can all split the profit as their payment and you… you'll get me for yours. Just like you want."

Jim grabbed onto her shoulders and quickly turned her around. "No, you'll lose everything you've fought to keep. I can't let you do that, not for me."

"Jim, please stop." She gave him a small smile before gently taking both of his hands in her own. "If this is the only way I can save you, then so be it. I'm not going to let you suffer for my mistakes." She dropped his hands and backed away a few steps. "This is no longer your decision to make."

Jim opens his mouth to argue, but Meg lightly shook her head and turned back to Sinbad, moving to address the latter. "Do we have a deal?"

Sinbad studied her for a minute, trying to decide if she was serious, before nodding. "Alright, but on one condition."

Meg tilted her head slightly and asked, "And what would that be?"

He smiled. "If the treasure's not there and you go home with me, there's one thing you'll have to do." When she didn't say anything, he continued. "On the off chance that he happens to not give up on being with you and actually finds where we're living, you're not to try and make contact with him. If he tries to make contact with you, and you see him, hear him, or anything like that, you are to stop whatever you're doing and come straight home to me and tell me about it. Without a single word to or glance at him. That's my requirement."

She looked at the ground, wide-eyed. He wasn't only going to separate them, he was going to make sure they never had a hope of seeing one another, let alone just being together, again. Even if he knew it would give her a bright spot in her otherwise depressing life. Sinbad had her stuck exactly where he wanted her all along, and she had no choice but to agree with his terms or kill her boyfriend.

He smiled wider as he walked up to her. "Deal?"

She returned her attention to him and glared, standing up taller as she offered her hand to him. "Deal."

Sinbad took her hand and they shook in agreement. Right as she was about to let go, he tightened his grip and pulled her closer.

"You know, now I'm kind of hoping that we don't find the treasure." He looked her up and down. "You can always pay me my portion of it later in... other ways."

She quickly pulled away from him. "Keep dreaming, Sinbad."

He shrugged and walked away. Looking over his shoulder, he said, "I'll wake the men and get them prepared to go. Be ready in an hour."

Meg glared at Sinbad as he went below deck. When he was completely gone, she quickly spun around, walked toward Jim and, without stopping, grabbed his hand and pulled him back toward the 'privacy' of their room.


	11. Chapter 11: Tonight Will Be the Night

**Special thanks to Kayli for editing this, as well as to FloraIrmaTylee for her continued support and also for her recognition of the source of the chapter's titles. Thank you both for being awesome.**

**We've finally reached the last chapter. Yes, this one is especially long, but I couldn't bring myself to split it in half. Besides, there were no really good cliffies to leave you guys on in here that wouldn't make one chapter ridiculously short. Anyway… Thanks to all the readers who've gone this far with me, I really appreciate that people are actually reading what I write. Thanks again!**

Chapter 11: Tonight Will Be the Night

Meg slammed the door behind them, leaning her back against it as she slowly slid to the floor. She stared at the ground, trying to sort out all of the deals she agreed to and the implications that came with each. She began to wonder if she made the right decisions, but quickly pushed those thoughts away. It didn't matter if they were the right choices or not; they were what the two of them were stuck with and it luckily kept the both of them alive, even if it didn't guarantee that either would be happy in the end.

She heard Jim slowly walk up to and sit down beside her. He spoke quietly. "Why'd you do that? We could have figured something else out. Something that wouldn't force you to go with him if this goes wrong."

She turned her head toward him. "I'm sorry. We didn't exactly have time to come up with any other ideas, nor were we in much of a position to argue with his demands. Besides, this is the only way that you can at least get out of this alive and free." She changed her attention back to the ground, unable to look at his sad grey eyes any longer. "I couldn't think of anything else. I almost lost you once; I'm not chancing it a second time."

Jim lightly sighed before wrapping his arms around her. He pulled her closer as she leaned into him. "It'll be alright, Meg. We'll find that treasure and finally be able to go home."

Meg pulled away from him looking back into his eyes. "But what if –"

"We will."

"But –"

Jim quickly interrupted her. "No, we will find it, and go home. End of story."

She sighed and nodded, leaning back into him as he tightened his grip around her.

"I really hope you're right."

The two of them sat there quietly for a while, enjoying what Megara thought could be the last chance they'd have to be together like this. After what they both considered to be an incredibly short time, they heard a light knocking on the door.

"Captain says it's time to go."

"Alright Kale, we'll be there in a minute," Meg quietly said, lifting her head from Jim's chest. She waited for Kale's footsteps to fade before speaking again, "I guess we should get going before Sinbad decides to come get us himself."

Jim released her and stood, looking down at her. He smiled and offered her his hand. "Hey, don't worry, this will all end up alright. I promise."

She sighed and gave him a small smile before giving him her hand. He pulled her up gently, entwining his fingers with hers as they turned toward the door.

"Ready?"

She nodded. "Let's get this over with."

As they stepped onto the deck, they saw the whole crew assembled and armed with shovels, picks, and now weapons, almost exactly like the last time they left the ship. Sinbad, previously busied by talking to Kale, turned toward the two of them and smiled, moving closer. Meg gripped Jim's hand tightly.

"So, did you two have enough time for saying your goodbyes to one another?" He paused, looking the two of them over. "You two seem rather… tidy, for it to have been a very meaningful one."

Meg rolled her eyes at him. "Please. We don't have to do _that_ just to say we love each other. Unlike you, we don't throw ourselves at others just to be happy. Of course, you've never known love, so you wouldn't understand," she growled at him, eliciting a few chuckles from his crew.

He angrily turned to the men, quickly silencing them, before looking back at Meg and Jim.

Sinbad smiled and shook his head, although irritation still shone in his eyes. "Still feisty as ever, I see. I'll have to break you of that when we get back home."

Meg glared at him, but before she could even speak a word in response, Sinbad had pulled the map out of his pocket and shoved it at Jim, ordering him to open it. Jim gave her a quick glance, moving to take and unlock it after she gave him a slight nod and moved her hand to grip his arm instead. As soon as he made the last twist, a green light shone from the orb, creating a pathway back onto the island.

Sinbad smiled. "Alright boys, let's go." He turned to the two of them, giving a mock bow. "After you."

Meg rolled her eyes at him again, but walked with Jim off the ship and back onto the island.

The map led them through the same dense forest and dying field that Meg had run across before in her desperate search for Jim. She kept a firm grip on Jim's arm and continually glanced at Sinbad. Not only was she wanting to be as close as possible to him for as long as she could, part of her feared that Sinbad would go back on his word, regardless of the consequences. To her relief, Sinbad seemed to have no interest in Jim besides the fact that he had the map; Jim was nothing more to him than a pest in the way to his reward. Soon, they came upon the same stone shrine near where Meg had found Jim's injured body. She lightly shuddered at the memory. It seemed like the light led straight into the door, but stopped about 20 feet away. As they approached the spot where the light stopped, the map suddenly beeped and quit functioning.

Jim looked at the map, lightly tapping and shaking it to try to get the light to turn back on. When he realized it wasn't, he frantically began trying to spin the parts of the orb and press buttons, receiving only a small beep with each attempt. The same small beep Meg had received when she first played with it.

"Jim, what's—" Meg attempted to ask before being rudely shoved away by Sinbad as he forced his way in between the couple.

"What happened? Why did the map quit here? There's nothing around here!"

"I – I don't know. As soon as we got here, it just quit. Just like before," Jim frantically stated, still trying to unlock the map as he received only beeps in return.

Sinbad laughed. "You're sure not trying very hard to keep Meg with you. You must not love her very much. You know, you could have made this easier on all of us and just give her up when we were all back on the boat."

Jim glared at the sailor. "Don't you dare question how much I love her. You have no right to talk, you hypocrite. Like I'd ever give her over to a selfish, womanizing pirate like you, not as long as I live." He returned his attention to the orb as he tried different ways of unlocking it, still getting the same answer from the contraption.

"I can fix that if you'd like," Sinbad angrily retorted.

"I'd like to see you try."

Meg watched as the two went back and forth, constantly attacking one another's character. She sighed and rolled her eyes. There was no point trying to get in between them; she'd have to wait until they either calmed down or tired themselves out from arguing, both of which could take an extremely long time. It wasn't like they'd go very far with their threats as they couldn't actually kill one another because of the deal. She walked over to the building and leaned against the door, crossing her arms as she watched.

"You really think that keeping her away from her birthright is loving her? I could give her a better life and you know it. You just don't want to give her up. Now who's the selfish one?"

Jim laughed. "Since when is forcing her into a situation she obviously doesn't want to be in the same as loving her? And I'm not the one who won't give her up. You don't care about her at all; you tried to take what she loved away from her. How is _that_ loving her?"

"I was trying to take you away from her. She's better off without you; she just won't accept that fact. And besides, you're the same as me. You forced her on this trip, didn't you? You're no different than me."

"I am very different than you, and for one huge reason."

"And what's that?"

"I would never cheat on her or break her heart like you did."

She sighed. At this rate, it was going to take an extremely long time. She wondered why they just didn't start digging where they were if the map led them there. Meg shook her head lightly; they were probably too busy arguing to think clearly enough to realize that simple idea. As she relaxed against the door, she felt an odd, raised ring pushing against her back. She turned around and looked at it, finding some sort of circular impression in the building. Curious, she dusted the gap out and, like the rest of the building, found odd impressions within it. She studied it for a few seconds before realizing that it looked a lot like some of the patterns on the map.

Meg turned and walked toward the arguing men, taking the orb out of Jim's hands and moving to return to the shrine. As soon as she did so, all arguing ceased and she had the attention and weapons of almost every member of the crew focused on her.

"Meg! What are you _doing_?" Jim exclaimed, walking toward her.

"Lass, you better give that map back! Don't make us shoot!" One of the pirates yelled, cocking his weapon as a few others voiced their agreement.

"Don't shoot her! You'll kill us all if you do," Sinbad yelled at his men, forcing them to stand down. He turned back to her. "Megara, you're in a very delicate situation. Give the map back for your own good. Now is not the time for your games."

She scoffed at him and looked over her shoulder, muttering "men," before walking away from them and toward the building, causing immediate protest from the crew. She flipped the orb in her hands a few times before she found what seemed to be the corresponding pattern to the one in the hole. Meg carefully inserted the orb into the hole before it made a loud click. She glanced back over her shoulder at the shocked men behind her before looking back at the door and inhaling deeply. She slowly twisted the orb until it matched the pattern on the outside of the hole, causing the building to grind and click as long forgotten gears and latches began to move once again. She heard Sinbad and Jim walk up beside her as the door to the shrine slowly opened and revealed a dark hallway and staircase burrowing deep into the ground, both lined with torches.

Meg felt Jim retake her hand. "You found it. You've found our ticket home."

She stared into the tunnel. "Not yet. We still don't know if there's any actual treasure down there."

He nodded as Sinbad walked in front of them and turned toward his crew.

"Alright, men, be prepared for anything. We don't know what's down here, but if we're lucky it'll make us all rich and we'll be on our way to Fiji."

As the men cheered, Meg raised an eyebrow at Sinbad. "Fiji? Really?"

He glanced at her. "What? You have a problem with Fiji?"

She shrugged. "Not at all." She smirked. "Especially since I'm not going there."

"We'll see about that." Sinbad turned his attention back to his men. "I'll lead with a few men, and then these two will follow. Kale, you'll be in charge of the back group that follows them. You're in command if something happens. Understood?"

The men shouted "Aye, Captain" as Sinbad pointed to a few men who drew their weapons and followed him into the tunnel, Meg and Jim closely behind.

The staircase seemed to go on forever. As soon as Meg began to wonder if it really was never-ending, the group reached a wooden door. Sinbad reached for the doorknob, turning his head to his nearby men.

"Alright, men. Be ready."

Meg held her breath, nervous about what was contained behind the door. It was either the key to her freedom and future with Jim, or the lock forcing her back into the cage of her old life and into Sinbad's arms. She was really hoping it was the first option.

Sinbad turned the knob, his men's weapons trained on the door. It creaked as he opened it. They all gasped as they saw the adjacent room.

An immense cavern would probably better describe the area. Not only was it immense, every corner of it was filled with mountains of gold and other precious metals and jewels, separated by small paths for people to easily navigate the room.

Tears of happiness filled Meg's eyes as she gripped Jim's hand tightly and whispered, "It's here, it actually exists!" She looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back and pulled her into a tight hug before kissing her deeply.

"What are you two so happy about? None of this is yours," Sinbad said, causing the two to pull apart.

"You know, I would really appreciate it if you'd stop interrupting me kissing my girlfriend," Jim growled, pulling her closer to him as Sinbad approached and crossed his arms.

Meg looked worriedly at him. "Is this enough treasure for you?"

Sinbad glanced between her and Jim. After a minute of silence, he addressed her. "You really don't want to go home, do you?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm never going back to that hellhole."

He sighed and looked at the treasure. "Yeah, you and your boyfriend get a safe ride home and I'll leave you alone." When she smiled at him and tried to thank him, he interrupted her, "This isn't a favor, Meg. You two are to sit here and not touch a bit of my treasure. We'll leave as soon as we pack up most of this."

They nodded and Sinbad left to instruct his men. Meg and Jim found themselves a seat near the door to the cave, making themselves comfortable as they watched the men go back and forth carrying piles of treasure.

It was sunset by the time Sinbad's crew had filled most of the ship with treasure. The group found that there was much more than their ship could carry and that they'd have to make a few trips just to retrieve a fraction of it. After a few hours of discussion with Kale in the captain's quarters about what their next course of action should be, Sinbad decided it would be best to leave the treasure on the island, and come back for it as needed, instead of trying to take it all and finding someplace to store it.

When he went into their room to present this plan to the couple, Meg immediately jumped off the bed her and Jim were sharing to argue.

"What? Leave it here so you can just use it as an excuse to invade our lives again when you can't get the map to work? I don't think so."

"Hey, I've seen the door opened once and I know exactly how to get to it. I don't really need you two anymore.

She scoffed at him. "Right, that's what you say now."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She glared at him. "It means that you have no problem interrupting and ruining other people's lives as long as it gets you what you want."

"Look, I gave you my word that you two would go home and I'd leave you alone."

"Yeah, and why should I believe _your_ word?"

"Why are you so argumentative about this?"

"Because I don't want to leave any loopholes for you to use against me. Just because _you'll _leave us alone, doesn't mean that every other member of the underworld will. I know you; you'll find some way to let my father or someone who I dislike equally as much know where I am so that _they _can come and retrieve me so that you can get me, control of the underworld, and the treasure in the end without ever getting your hands dirty."

"Do you really think I'd do that to you?"

"I don't know."

"But you're that worried about going back that you planned for it anyway?"

"Yes."

"May I ask why?"

_Because I'm scared of what my father will do if he ever finds out where I am._ "No."

Sinbad sighed. "Alright, fine. How about I pretend you were never a part of this trip? We just found some kid able to decipher a map we had and he led us here. I never saw any signs of you and know nothing about where you are. If anyone asks, I say I haven't seen you since you left. How's that?"

Meg searched his eyes, looking for any sign of deceit. Upon finding none, she exhaled lightly. "I guess that's all I can hope for. Just take us home please."

He nodded and left to order his men to prepare the ship to leave for Montressor in the morning. Meg returned to sit on the edge of the bed as Jim moved to sit down behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. When she didn't relax into his embrace as usual, he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Hey, why are you so tense? We're going home, you should relax a little," he lightly whispered in her ear.

"I just can't. Now until we're home."

When he saw the concern in her eyes, he moved beside her, taking one of her hands in both of his. "What's really bugging you?" When she looked down at her lap and didn't say anything, he tried again. "Come on. We've been through this much together. At this point you could pretty much tell me anything and not scare me off."

"It's just…I'm scared, Jim. I'm really scared." She took her hand out of his and lightly placed it over where his gunshot wound used to be. "Just normal men from the underworld who had no grudge against you did this. They almost killed you. That's why I'm so scared." At his look of utter confusion, she continued explaining. "My father and the other leaders of the underworld won't be as merciful. They'll hate you for keeping me from returning home long ago, which I probably would have done if I hadn't met you when I did. But they won't take their anger out on me like the pirates did to you. They'll torture you, if you're lucky eventually kill you, just to punish me for disobeying their wishes and I ... I can't handle the thought of directly causing you pain. I can't do it." She dropped her hand and looked back down. "It's not Sinbad saying something to any of them that I'm worried about. It's that someone will find us just as easily as he did, and what will happen when they do."

"You don't know that your father would do something that extreme. And they won't find us, and even if someone does, do you really think they'd recognize you?"

"Yes I do. I've seen him severely punish both people he liked a lot and people he hated. I can imagine what he'd do to me, to us. And if someone even thought they knew me, they would undoubtedly take me to him just to make sure. And since that reward's out, they will definitely be looking."

"It's a large world and Sinbad only found you by accident. He didn't even know you were on the ship until halfway through the trip."

She looked back up at him and snapped, "And what keeps my father from doing the same thing?"

Meg watched as Jim's mouth opened and shut, trying to come up with some sort of answer meant to comfort her. But he had nothing, shaking his head lightly and sighing as Meg removed her attention from him.

She tried to calm her breathing down as she stared at her lap; she didn't want to start crying again, she'd already done it enough times lately to last her quite a while. Meg didn't mean to snap at Jim, but this possibility had been haunting her dreams and thoughts since she fell in love with him. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't deny it, and letting him try to distract her mind from it wasn't allaying her fears at all. After a few seconds, she felt Jim slowly embrace her and tighten his grip as she leaned into him, her emotions gradually coming back under her control. They quietly sat there for a few minutes before Jim said, "Hey, everything will be alright, trust me," when she raised her head from his chest to argue, he smiled and interrupted her, whispering "Come on, we should get some sleep. It'll probably be an early morning," before letting go of her and getting into bed, scooting to the far edge so she had enough room to lay down next to him. She sighed and smiled as she crawled over to him, sliding under the blankets and moving as close as she could to her boyfriend.

And for the first night in a long time, she wasn't plagued by nightmares.

That is, until she got a very unwelcome wake-up call in the morning.

"Megara, time to get up."

"Gods, I thought nightmares only occurred while you were sleeping."

He pretended to look wounded. "Ouch, that really hurt, Meg."

She rolled her eyes. "Go away, Sinbad."

"What? I thought you'd just want to say goodbye to the island as we left."

"You know very well I get motion sick very easily and I would rather not see this island ever again. Now, if you don't mind, I'd really enjoy it if you left us alone until we reach home. Okay? Thanks." And with that said, she rolled over and cuddled against Jim's chest, pulling the blanket further over the two of them and smiling to herself as she heard Sinbad huff angrily. She knew that he was just trying to make things terribly awkward and was forced to wake her up because his initial plan fell through.

After hearing the door open and slam shut, she felt Jim shift slightly next to her as he murmured, "morning."

She looked up at her now awake boyfriend and gave him a small smile.

"Hey. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better. It only hurts every once in a while. But you know, it's pretty easy to forget about when you wake up to your beautiful girlfriend telling an annoying pest to get lost."

She winced lightly. "Sorry, I meant to get rid of him before he woke you up."

Jim shifted to prop his head on his arm, looking down at her. "It's alright; I was awake when he first entered the room, just in case he tried to pull something sneaky. But it looks like I didn't have to worry since I have my brave hero here to protect me."

Meg playfully shoved his chest as he lightly chuckled and shifted to give her a quick kiss on top of her head before returning to his previous position. She smiled up at him, her violet eyes bright with excitement. Jim grinned at her. "You're ready to go home aren't you?"

She nodded. "Yes. Not only are we going back today, I get to stay with you." She lifted a hand and lightly laid it on his cheek. "There for a while, I really thought I wasn't going to be able to. But now I am, and I couldn't be happier. The only thing standing between us is," she paled and frowned as realization dawned on her, removing her hand to place it on her stomach, "the long boat ride back. That's not going to be fun."

Jim sighed lightly before standing up and lightly draping the blanket over her head. When Meg began protesting and moved to take it off, he quickly told her "Stop. Just leave it there for a second." She huffed and dropped her hand as she heard Jim move away from the bed and to some indistinguishable part of the room.

She waited for what felt like forever before saying his name, receiving a simple "Just a few more minutes" in return, causing her to sigh and tell him to hurry up.

After a little while, she heard him come closer and felt the part of the bed directly in front of her sink. She closed her eyes as Jim found the edges of the blanket and slowly pulled it off of her head. Meg slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times to adjust her vision, looking around the room. Meg smiled as she realized what Jim did.

He had taken a few of the sheets as well as towels and miscellaneous other items and used them to cover most of the portholes, effectively blocking her view from the ocean passing them by and thus all sense of movement besides the rare rocking of the ship that she could easily handle.

She shifted forward to kiss him before leaning back against the pillows and saying, "You really spoil me, you know that?"

"Whenever I can." He moved over to lie down next to her, wrapping her in his arms and leaning his head on top of hers.

They stayed like that for a few hours, talking about what they missed most about home. Once that conversation was done, they sat together in silence, just enjoying one another's presence. Meg fell asleep not long after, comfortable in her boyfriend's arms.

She woke up to a light knocking on the door. She rubbed her eyes as she looked around the darkened room, figuring that it had to be just past sunset. She tried to sit up, but found Jim's arms still tightly wrapped around her, resisting her movement. She smiled and whispered lightly to him, "Jim, let go."

She received a small groan and him shaking his head in response. She sighed as she heard the knocking again, knowing he wasn't going to let her go answer the door.

"Yes?"

"We've just arrived at the Montressor ports. You two are free to go whenever you please."

Jim suddenly released her and shot upright in bed. "Really?"

"Yes sir."

Jim smiled widely at her, causing Meg to chuckle lightly at his sudden change in mood.

They quickly got out of bed and onto the deck, greeted by the setting sun and multiple pirates moving things about on deck, likely preparing to take off again as soon as they dropped the couple off. As they were about to leave the ship, Meg heard someone call her name. She turned around and saw Kale walking up, a small bag in his hand. As he approached, he handed the bag to her.

"Here, a little something for you to leave with."

"Part of the treasure? Kale, I can't. That was the deal."

"No, the deal was that you wouldn't touch any of _Sinbad's _treasure. This is from my portion. So Sinbad can't argue."

She grinned as she took the small pouch and hugged him. "You're terrible. Thanks."

As she let go, he gave Jim a farewell nod and left to continue preparing the ship for departure, revealing a very upset looking Sinbad standing not far off.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with?"

"Positive, Sinbad."

"You'd leave all the ease and riches of home to struggle here?"

"Yes, gladly."

He huffed. "Women. I swear I'll never understand them," he muttered before walking off to order his men about the ship.

Meg and Jim walked off the boat and back into town, heading straight for the inn. The next few weeks passed relatively peacefully; they answered a few questions about their trip, lied to Sarah that the map led nowhere but to a bunch of ruins, and tried to hide Jim's wound while it finished healing.

Jim had insisted that Meg make a permanent residence at the inn, with a room of her own. Sarah had agreed to it on the condition that Meg put some extra hours into helping around the inn. Meg didn't argue. It was in her room one night that Jim found her, staring out the window at the sun setting over the water.

"You're still worried about your dad, aren't you?"

She glanced over her shoulder at him before returning her gaze to outside. "Yeah. It's wrong for me to stay here and put you and Sarah in danger. If he finds me here, he'll never accept where I'm staying and what I'm doing with my life, even if it's made me the happiest I've ever been."

"Are you saying you want to leave?"

Meg sighed deeply. "No, I really don't want to. I want to stay here with you. Live out my life here. But, we both know it's not a good idea."

She heard Jim hum, like he was thinking. She couldn't guess what of. Meg listened as his footsteps slowly approached and stopped right behind her.

"What if we put you in a situation that he would approve of? A nice large house, protection, the works. That you were being more successful out here than you could ever hope to be at home."

She turned to face him. "And how do you expect to do that? The treasure Kale gave us could build us the home we wanted, sure. But never as nice as my father would expect me to have. And to be that successful, we'd have to have a business of some sort, which neither of us have even the capabilities of starting."

"You sure about that?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"Come with me." Jim grabbed her hand and dragged her to his room, shutting the door behind him. He then went over to a nearby chest and pulled all kinds of clothes and random items out of it, beckoning her over after he had effectively made a mess of his bedroom floor.

She sighed and walked over, skeptically looking at him when something in the dresser caught her eye. The whole bottom of the chest was covered with a thick layer of jewels and gold coins, easily equaling a small fortune.

Meg looked at him, surprise and disbelief coating her eyes. "How- how did you get all of this?"

He smirked. "I have large pockets. The map fit in them easily without weighing my pants down at all, so I just had to make sure that I didn't take too much treasure."

"But how did you get off the ship without anyone noticing?"

"Oh, your friend Kale knew about it, and helped me decide what to take. He gave you a bit extra in the bag just to lower suspicion; if anyone heard jingling of any sort, they'd think it was the bag and not me," he smiled as she ran the scene back through her mind, realizing just how well the two had it planned. "And as for impressing your father, I'm thinking you and me move to another town and set up an inn there using some of this money. A really fancy one. That way, you have both a nice house and a business, something your father could easily accept. I think anyone could respect that." He paused, before quietly asking, "So, do you still think you have to leave?"

She shook her head, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "You really are just amazing. Thank you."

He smiled and hugged her, releasing her to look back at the sunset.

"It's the end of an old day and life for us." He glanced down at her.

She smiled, leaning further into his embrace. "And the beginning of a new one, to outshine the last."

**So that's it. I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If any of you have any prompts or ideas for me to write, please send them my way – I need something extra to do during some of my college classes. **

**If you're interested, stay tuned to this account for an Esmeralda/Sinbad fanfic that's in the works. Probably will be up pretty soon; its already mostly outlined, just needs to be written.**


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